For those of you not in the know, Starbucks just began offering its beloved “seasonal” pumpkin-spiced latte on August 27^th (this past week).

August 27^th.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think about anything pumpkin-related, I usually envision cool October evenings, changing autumn leaves, and Halloween decorations – not air-conditioning, mosquitoes, and the smell of sunscreen in the air.  I don’t think that local pumpkins are even ripe in the fields yet.

Still – following in the steps of the retail industry (where – I kid you not, I recently found Christmas decorations being offered side-by-side with Halloween candy at my local Sam’s Club), the food industry is now trying to squeeze every penny out of a seasonal offering, making the buying public absolutely sick of it before the actual season even arrives.

And Starbucks is not alone.  While wandering through the aisles of my local grocery store, I have already spotted pumpkin-spice Cheerios, coffee creamer, Pop-Tarts, M&Ms, Oreos – even Spam (yes, even Spam).  It’s like a disease.  Pumpkin-spice has infected everything on the shelves.  Those must be some aggressive salesmen.

“Would you be interested in some pumpkin-spice flavored cough drops?  How about pumpkin-spice scented ‘Febreze’?”

Good Lord, Phil – take it easy.  You’re gonna make your sales numbers this quarter.

Heck, even McDonalds knows that no one wants a “Shamrock Shake” in January.

You know what the greatest joy of seasonal eating and drinking is? 

It’s seasonal.

Look, I love a big slice of pumpkin pie, but do you know when I love it?  For dessert on Thanksgiving Day – not at a Labor Day picnic.

I enjoy wild mushrooms in the spring, corn on the cob in summer, a fat Honeycrisp apple in the fall, and a piping hot pan of roasted Brussels sprouts on a cold winter’s day.  Everything has its time and place.

However; like anything else, too much of a good thing is not a good thing (with the exception of bacon – let’s not go crazy here).

That first “real” tomato of the season will make you close your eyes and make audible sounds of joy as you taste it, but come August – when there are fifteen of them sitting in the kitchen windowsill and your neighbors are even dropping them off at your house because they’ve got too many of them?  Even a hardcore tomato lover will say “I think I’ve had enough”.

It’s not even September and I’m already weary of looking at pumpkin-tainted food products – and I LIKE pumpkin.

But fear not, I’m sure “candy-cane peppermint” and “eggnog” foodstuffs will be making their annual appearance before the end of September.

I can hardly wait.