Today is November 30th, tomorrow is December 1st, this means in my world I must boldly face Christmas. How come after decades and decades’ worth of Christmas, I still find myself in a state resembling a startled rabbit bewildered by what lies ahead? I am not an anti-Christmas person it is just that I feel I can never come up to expectations.
In fact, I love the idea of this start-of-winter festival when the daylight is scarce and the nights are long and chilly. In the European culture, we now call it Christmas, but this festival must have its roots way back in time before electric lights and wax candles, and the decorations were the holly, ivy and mistletoe.
I love the art and culture that has poured out over the centuries to mark Christmas: music, drama, art, decorations in many forms. Going to concerts, ballet, theatre, and the movies all are Christmas treats. The decorations and lights festooned along the streets, on the houses, in the stores bring me joy. The gingerbread and cake decorations are a delight as are the upscale patisserie with tasteful Christmas themes. It is all lovely. The Duchess bake shop in Edmonton has a whole gingerbread Grinch village – months of work.
It’s the gift thing that weighs me down. No problem with the idea of giving gifts, it is the what that is such a problem. What to give? And lately how to find it? And the multitude of gifts.
Yes, yes, when I was a child, it was one gift from Mummy and Daddy and then one gift from others – brothers, grandparents. Now it is a plethora of gifts. Could we go back to one treasured gift, please, from each party?
If I could just cherry-pick my way through the days leading up to Christmas what would it be? :
Christmas cards
Cooking
Church.
We could add in a concert too.
I have already sent out my overseas cards – a cute dog on a sleigh. Many also got a snappy shortish Christmas letter. I truly appreciate this way of keeping in touch with far-flung friends. We have Facebook, email and WhatsApp etc. but I still treasure the Christmas card contact. As a child, I would be enchanted with the cards with those magic winter scenes. Now I live in that Christmas card landscape. When the snow is fresh and sparkling and the sky is blue or the night is dark, it is so beautiful. And I love receiving cards and reading people’s letters (though all those wonderful family achievements can sometimes be a bit overwhelming)
And the cooking and baking, I am looking forward to making that Nigella Lawson Christmas cake with chocolate and prunes – it is delicious. And cookies, a bit of a fiddle but fun too. And the turkey is a chummy co-production with my husband. Lots of veggies, gravy. Christmas pudding – or maybe a boozy jelly – and mince pies. And the booze, it is Christmas, bring on the wine and champagne with family and friends.
And church is a beautiful calm refuge through December. I love the church season of Advent. A traditionally a time of restraint and even fasting. The church colour is a sombre blue to burst forth into white and red, bells and music, singing and light come midnight on Christmas Eve.
The tree is another adventure but not yet. There will be thoughts about that later.
So it is November 30th and tomorrow starts the month of the big D. Seeing all these things I have written here, that I do like about Christmas, I really don’t know why I am whining and whingeing away like this. So shake it up Julia and get with it, gifts and all!