I didn’t have my camera with me this morning when I rode by the Wal-Mart up on Carlisle, so you’ll have to forgive this Inkstain file photo to illustrate today’s update on the onrushing Christmas consuming season. When last we tallied up the temporary shipping containers filling the parking lot behind this particular Wal-Mart superstore, it was a few weeks before Thanksgiving 2005, and there were 27.

This morning’s is just a rough count, because they’re so clogged up I couldn’t see them all, but my approximate tally as of Nov. 24, 2006, is 40. That’s a lot of stuff. Get out there and buy!