Hey, it's Brian, back with another one of these Burr Month's bonus episodes.

Let me be one of the first to wish you a happy November. I hope you had a wonderful Halloween,

and I hope you are as excited as I am that the Christmas season is now officially here.

Now, don't let anyone tell you different. There's a lot of talk this year around when's too early to put up the Christmas decorations.

When is it too early to listen to Christmas music?

The Christmas season has always been, and will always be, something that's fluid.

Did you know, for example, that a long time ago,

the Christmas season began on Christmas Day, and lasted for 12 days, just like the song, ending

on 12th night. For a time after that, the Christmas season was something that lasted just a

couple of days before Christmas. You'd put up your Christmas tree, if you put one up at all,

the night before Christmas or thereabouts. Only since the early 20th century have we considered the Christmas

season, the five-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And now we're seeing that extend

yet again, with Christmas decorations sitting on store shelves alongside the Halloween candy, and Hallmark

Channel's countdown to Christmas starting in October. The one thing that's remained constant about

Christmas throughout history is that it's always changing, and I believe we're watching the

acceptable length of the Christmas season changing yet again, right in front of us.

In the last few Burr months' bonuses, I've been reading you classic Christmas stories,

but today I'm excited to share with you an original contemporary story by the writer Sarah Tipper.

It's called Keep It All the Year, and it's from her short story collection, Tales to Take You to Christmas.

It's a short, sweet story about how one woman keeps the Christmas spirit alive all year long.

I'll come back at the end for some special announcements and to say goodbye.

But for now, here's Sarah Tippers Keep It All the Year.

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