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“Christmas in July!” announced a message in my email this morning.
It was actually only a sale of printer ink but it reminded me of Half Christmas.
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What’s that?
It’s hard to believe, given the way I now feel, but I once quite liked Christmas, or at least certain aspects of it. Back when I was young, a long time ago, and had a group of good friends, we used to get together at Christmas time, pulling names from a hat to see who we should bring a gift for. Everyone brought a dish of food and a bottle of something liquid.
It was always fun and one Christmas someone said what a shame it was that it only happened once a year. So we invented Half Christmas.
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Somewhere in June or July we held a Christmas party.
A sort of Southern Hemisphere Christmas, I suppose. We pulled names again for gag gifts. It was fun trying to come up with something useful or cute for 10 dollars.
Though we stopped short of having a tree, we had token decorations and played Christmas music which I think rather surprised a deliveryman who came to the door.
After all these years it sounds mad. Friends don’t need a reason for a get-together but calling it Half Christmas gave us a vague date to aim for.
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The world was a very different place in those days. It wasn’t that we were care-free, far from it, but we were young and there was always hope for better days to come. There were holiday trips to enjoy, new places to explore, new people to meet.
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While remembering is sometimes nostalgic, I wouldn’t want to go back.
It would be nice if the world had changed a lot less in most ways. It was an easier place to live and we didn’t know of the many technological inventions we now depend on.
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When I was young I thought how hard it must be, approaching the end of life, realising that time is running out.
Surely, it would be frightening?
Yet it seems less so as time goes on.
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With every friend or family member, each additional beloved companion you lose, a part of yourself falls away. That jigsaw of pieces that made up your life comes apart with no hope of repair.
It isn’t bad or sad. It is simply the cycle we are a part of.
I have always rejected the tendency to wish a life away by talking about ‘How many days until Christmas’? So I would hate having a ‘half-Christmas’ celebration when I hadn’t even been away on my summer holiday yet. In the supermarket yesterday, they already had huge displays of large drums of assorted chocolates on offer, ‘Ready for Christmas’. On the 21st of July. Hate it!
Best wishes, Pete.
I’ve just had a quick zip through the music and will listen to it in bed later. It’s sublime, but I shall probably fall asleep before getting to the end. Thank you anyway!
I love piano music (had a few lessons when I was young, but netball practice was at the same time slot and that took priority). So, even though I can’t play piano, I enjoy listening to it. Thanks for the link – I’m going to listen to it while I type a new post for our blog! Christmas in July – it’s been a foreign concept here in South Africa for years, but in the last few years, I’ve been seeing it more and more. However, I’d rather wait for the end of the year (it just feels right that Christmas should be in Summer) 🌞.