Ber Ber

I'm pretty sure I will hear a "ber-ber" comment at least 3 times today.

"Naku, ang bilis ng panahon. Ber-ber na."

"Ber-ber na. Pasko na."

"Ber-ber na, traffic na naman sigarado."

Today is the first day of the "ber months" -- the last four months of the year. Filipinos are crazy about the ber months. Filipinos attribute all the joys (and all the ills) of the Christmas season on the ber months, as if September 1 does in fact advent the coming of December 25. Traffic jams, expenses, year-end bonuses, parties. All these seem to occur more frequently during the ber months.

I notice that the Christmas season seems to get longer every year. A few weeks ago I was at a mall and noticed that a Christmas tree was out, all decked out in full battle regalia. (Gold is back this year, people.) Maybe next year we won't have "Back to School" season anymore. We'll go straight from summer to Christmas.

Personally, I like the ber months because the rain stops, the days cool and the nights become still.