It’s always interesting interacting with new people.

You spend time weighing personalities and sort of testing people out in conversation. You also tend to come across things you’ve never heard of, like the Christmas Pickle.

I like to think I know a lot about Christmas. After all, I am gearing up for my 26th yuletide season and 26 times is usually enough to understand just about anything. But at a Saturday night shindig, I was made aware of the Christmas Pickle tradition, one that sounded quite made-up.

It helped the “that’s not real” case that the other four people within earshot of the Christmas Pickle tale had never heard of it either. It took walking to the other side of the room and soliciting more opinions before the tale was confirmed.

Today at lunch I asked my companions, and they further cemented its legitimacy. Apparently it involves hiding a pickle ornament somewhere on the tree apparatus with a prize going to whomever finds it first. Some said they thought it had German roots, but during my Internet research I came across this article that says the Germans have no idea what they are talking about.

You have to be somewhat skeptical of anything these days that doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page. I mean, global warming has an extensive Wiki entry and lots of people don’t think it exists.

I think if you have a tradition that involves prizes, there should be a set of rules involved. So far, none of the Christmas Picklers have been able to explain contingencies for simultaneous findings. There also seems to be little concern about a prize-involved search involving kids, Christmas excitement and a tree full of ornaments. Seems to me that somewhere along the line there would be some sort of tree-toppling disaster.

Then again, the tradition did lead to the creation of this wonderful piece of stop motion animation.

Merry Pickle to all, and to all a good night.

I have a problem.

For about the last week, I have spent most of my workdays with songs stuck in my head. I know that doesn’t sound like an extraordinary thing, but I assure you it is.

You see, the songs banging around my noggin are those of the Christmas variety and it is only September.

It has been different songs every day, and not even the most popular ones. Try focusing on your work with “Santa Baby” or “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” on repeat. It’s not easy.

There has to be an explanation for this madness. I mean, I’m a big fan of Christmas and even the songs that go along with it. But four months in advance is a bit much.

It could have something to do with the delightfully cooler weather of late, though it’s not exactly December-like. Unless of course my body still thinks it’s in Florida.

Last year I spent the holidays in Jacksonville, which meant wearing shorts and a t-shirt to work on Christmas Day. There’s something really odd about celebrating the season in such a warm place after spending your whole life in a more yuletide climate.

I hope I didn’t permanently flip a switch or this could be the longest Christmas season ever. Especially if I spend tomorrow at work with a playlist of “All I Want for Christmas is You.”