It seems that once we hit November and get past Halloween and Bonfire Night, the countdown is truly on for the dreaded “C” word – Christmas!

At Radio Woking recently, one of our listeners, David, contacted me asking if I could play Elton John’s Step Into Christmas. This sparked a flurry of messages and social media comments about whether it is too early to play Christmas songs on the radio. The general consensus from our listeners was that it is most definitely too early – although there were a few people who like the Christmas cheer to brighten a winter’s November evening. One lady told me she was about to have ankle surgery, so Step Into Christmas seemed very appropriate to her!

I can see both sides of this debate. When the evenings draw in and the weather is rubbish, a bit of festive sparkle and cheerful earworms from Wizzard, Wham! or Mariah and friends can brighten things up – and if you’re going to the effort of putting up decorations, then the earlier they go up, the longer you have to enjoy them.

On the other hand, if you start too early, Christmas can wear a bit thin. The build-up can go on too long, and you may develop a dislike of tinsel and go a bit “bah humbug”! (Is that just me?) I wonder which side of the debate you fall on? Get in touch and let me know.

Halloween has become more popular and commercialised over the years – I’ve seen all sorts of decorations and related items in the shops this year, from Halloween crackers to nutcrackers, and of course lots of sweets for the trick-or-treaters. There were even Halloween pet costumes. Magic, my cat, looked at me as if to say, “Don’t even think about it!”

We haven’t really bothered with Halloween before, but last year there were eager kids knocking on the door trick-or-treating and we had nothing for them. This year, Emma and I thought, let’s go for it!

We hung up spooky decorations, got out the Halloween ornaments, and Emma carved the pumpkin, which we proudly placed outside with a battery-operated tealight inside. Emma also made up some cute sweet bags, and we were ready for visitors on the evening of October 31st. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great, so we had a total of just three callers – but seeing the young children in their spooky costumes, with parents watching on from the end of the drive, was really uplifting. As a bonus, we had lots of sweets left over to eat ourselves afterwards!

Listen to my shows on Radio Woking: Wednesdays 7am to 9am and Sundays 9am to noon at www.radiowoking.co.uk

Emma and I are on Surrey Hills Community Radio every second Monday, 9pm to 11pm, and I host Life on the Edge on the first Monday of the month from 10am at www.surreyhillsradio.co.uk.

Catch up anytime on www.mixcloud.com/radiowoking and www.mixcloud.com/surreyhillsradio or email [email protected] or send a voice note at www.speakpipe.com/jonandrews.