“All for Fall,” say the signs on the seasonal displays at Dave’s local Lowe’s. Well, he lives in Florida, so it’s not like he needs fireplaces or leaf blowers. But last weekend he was horrified to see…in mid-September…Christmas trees.

Dave writes:

My wife and I just bought a house, so we went to Lowe’s today to pick up some DIY things. We walked into the store past a display of artificial pumpkins. OK, Halloween is in 6 weeks, it’s the “next” holiday, we can let it go. Then I noticed a large display of fireplaces. That is, large space heaters shaped like fireplaces. “Funny,” I thought, “we live in Florida. It won’t get cold enough to even consider one of these for months.”

Then I realized why they were selling fireplaces. You see, if it’s Christmas, Santa needs a fireplace. And clearly, it’s Christmas, judging by this display (in the mid-assembly)

Sigh. Or perhaps, in the words of Charlie Brown, “Good grief.”

Well, Charlie did learn the hard way how bad things can get when you leave Christmas tree shopping to the last minute while you’re on a budget.

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