By Kent Bernhardt

I love the holiday season, but I have to confess I’m always a little relieved when it’s over and I can take a deep breath of icy January air and settle peacefully into the quiet of winter.

I live my life in the music world, and between the joyous strains of church choirs and the vocal group, The Moonglows, that still welcomes my participation, I “fa-la-la-la-la” until I’m blue in the face each year. I enjoy it or I wouldn’t do it, but by Dec. 25 I’ve exhausted my supply of decked halls and given my last ounce of joy to this world.

Few realize that serious singers of Christmas cheer begin their work in early September at the latest. Yes, while you’re squeezing the last of the ketchup out of the bottle at the Labor Day picnic, we vocalists are learning the new holiday arrangements we’ll add to our repertory in December.

It takes that kind of planning and what seems like endless rehearsal for us to be ready for the season when you are. It’s the life we signed up for when we said we wanted to sing, and God bless us every one, we’re going to spread Christmas cheer if it kills us.

I noticed recently that CVS Pharmacy seems to have the same philosophy. When I stopped by a few days ago for a bottle of peroxide for a foot injury — less than a dollar for a rather large bottle and how has that stuff avoided the price gouging so apparent elsewhere in the pain aisle — I noted they are already preparing us for Valentine’s Day, which is still a month away.

Candy that will be stale by Feb. 14 is already beckoning to us, along with perfume, cards and small gifts meant to express our love and adoration for each other in a cost-effective manner.

Easter decorations will soon follow as will Independence Day trimmings by Easter, all in the name of “being ready.” And never fear, they’ll prepare for Halloween while we are still waving our American flags, roasting weenies, and singing “You’re a Grand Ol’ Flag.” 

Isn’t the Boy Scout motto “Be prepared?” I think so, but that has more to do with surviving in the woods, so I think the words carry more weight to a Boy Scout than they do to a singer.

I’m all for preparation, but I’m so bad at it. As a card-carrying member of the Procrastination Party, I remain true to our slogan “Never put off until tomorrow what you probably wouldn’t do until day after tomorrow anyway.”

That’s why preparing Christmas music in September is a stretch for me and taxes my ability to engage in it fully. That baby in a manger is waaaaay down the road in my mind, while to others the sense of urgency is already upon us.

So, I count on the master planners in my life to get my holiday engine into gear and inspire me each Christmas season, which they do faithfully, and I am thankful for their undying dedication.

But for now, pardon me while I breathe a sigh of relief that it’s finally over, and I can apply my efforts in new directions — like love songs for Valentine’s Day and Irish tunes for St. Paddy’s.

Kent Bernhardt is a veteran broadcaster and lives in Salisbury.