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November 28, 2011 |
Christmas approaches
The Christian religious holiday may not arrive until December 25, but secular and commercial festivities have been in full swing for almost a month already. Increasingly the non-religious aspects of the holiday are celebrated even in countries without a strong Christian tradition. Gathered here are images of preparations from around the world as it begins to look a lot like Christmas. -- Lane Turner (42 photos total)

Windy LaFerney (right) checks her e-mail while her son Caisen LaFerney, 4, plays an electronic game and Windy's mother Nicki Lawrence hangs out in their tent in front of a department store in Mesquite, Texas on November 21, 2011. They set up their tent late Sunday night so they could be the first people in the store early Friday morning for Black Friday shopping. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News/AP) #

A 65-foot white fir tree is loaded onto a truck for its 20-day journey to Washington on November 5, 2011 after the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree was cut from the Stanislaus National Forest near Sonora, Calif. The tradition of "The People's Tree" began in 1964, and the job of providing it rotates among national forests. Come January, when the tree has served its purpose, it will be ground into mulch and spread across the Capitol gardens. (Jerry Snyder/Stanislaus National Forest/AP) #

A man dressed as Santa Claus is surrounded by local children giving him their Christmas wish lists as he arrives at the Santa Claus post office in Himmelpfort, Germany on November 10, 2011. Children can send their Christmas wish lists to Himmelpfort from around the world and receive a reply from Santa. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images) #

Women reply to letters addressed to Father Christmas at a special Christmas post office in Himmelpfort, Germany on November 10, 2011. The post office has a special Christmas service, replying to mail addressed to Santa Claus that were sent by children from all over the world. Organizers expect to receive some 280,000 letters and wish lists from children writing in 17 languages. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) #

Radio City Rockettes present s'mores frozen hot chocolate, their annual holiday season dessert in New York on November 21, 2011. The dessert is served in a goblet dripping in marshmallow fluff and filled with a blend of 14 cocoas, topped with honey graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, swirls of chocolate sauce, whipped cream and garnished with a graham cracker cookie topped with a toasted marshmallow, chocolate shavings, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a Radio City light-up stirrer. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images) #

Visitors look at an unusual Christmas crib in a mall by architect Fernando Martinez on November 26, 2011 in Tegucigalpa. The crib depicts the violence wave in the country - Honduras suffers the highest murder rate in the world - as well as the deaths of Osama Bin Laden and Muamar Gaddafi. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images) #
More links and information
Christmas, New York Times topic - NYTimes.com
Christmas - Wikipedia entry