Since those glorious days before Christmas, a period of uncharacteristic gloom has set in.
Usually I am not much affected by the weather but the week between Christmas and New Year has never been my favourite time.
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Fair skies would help to lift me from the funk that has overtaken me, but none are in the current forecast, so I’ll have to fall back on photographs.
What disturbs me about this week, I think, is the inevitable summing up of news, events, milestones, comparisons and so forth.
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Two of my friends had a parent die on Christmas Day.
Having things go wrong “around the holidays” always seemed to make matters worse.
It’s hard to imagine a painful loss being made worse by a date on the calendar, but when feeling deeply sad, the sound of laughter can be hard to bear.
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And since we are so bound up in remembering anniversaries, the date will be forever associated with that loss.
As you get older, the Christmas card list gets shorter.
My method of writing cards is to go through those I received last year, although this isn’t totally efficient because some of my friends make phone calls or send emails rather than writing a card.
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One friend does none of these things and two years ago, I decided it was time to give up one-sided communication.
When the birthday came around, no card went out.
The next thing that happened was a State trooper arriving at the house to see if I was alive, my phone having elected to decline her calls.
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Is there any point to relationships that amount to two words on a Christmas card? I decided there wasn’t, shortening the list further.
Christmas presents were abandoned years ago.
There was a time when I carefully kept a list and through the year I watched out for items I thought a particular person might enjoy.
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It gave me pleasure to wrap gifts up and I especially enjoyed surprising people.
But there came a time when it all became too stressful.
My imagination seemed to have reached an end and I was endlessly worrying and fretting over what to buy.
When my budget could not keep up, common sense had to be engaged.
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When I first came to the States, there was something called the Christmas Club. It was an account you could open at a bank, to be topped up through the year so you would have money for shopping.
Maybe such a thing still exists.
Making it all into a big commercial enterprise ruined the whole concept as far as I could see.
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How often do you hear:
“Be nice. It’s Christmas!”
It should be:
“Be nice. You’re a human being!”
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There should be no Christmas truces.
There should be PEACE.
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On this fine day, we drove through Greenwich and I got a photograph of the actual green witch.
Thank you, Carolyn, for a little surprise. the green witch! Your musing about the cards and presents, resonates with me, and I use most of the time email.
Joanna
We give small gifts to each other on Christmas Day (and to whoever spends the holiday with us). But you’re right, the commercialisation of Christmas is something I really don’t like. You have so many beautiful photos – that even just one of them would be a very special gift. Oh wait, there’s a green witch in Greenwich? My word!
Just wanted to wish a happier and healthier New Year to both you and Grant and the furry ones too. Your blog is like a Christmas gift to so many people worldwide, so I want to thank you for that!!
Take care of yourself.
Best wishes,
Gladys
Thank you Gladys. Best wishes to you also!
I gave up on Christmas cards this year, for the first time ever. I immediately noticed how few we received, so realised it was tit-for-tat after all.
My Christmas has gone well, perhaps the best organised one in 10 years. But it has been overshadowed by Ollie’s illness, so I have struggled to enjoy a single moment of it.
Then again, I haven’t really enjoyed Christmas since I was 16 years old.
Best wishes, Pete.