Friday, 25 November 2011

Christmas is Looming

The season to be miserable is almost upon us. The husband hates it and wanders around scowling and mumbling humbug, humbug. I always love getting the house all decked out in festive bling. It brightens up the bleak midwinter. The scent of pine or spruce, cinnamon and cloves and the whiff of roasting turkey; crackling fires and mulled wine shared with friends and family is something to look forward to. But I do realise we have lost some of the essence of Christmas in lieu of commercialism.

Christmas goodies start appearing in the shops before Halloween and retailers go all out to encourage us to spend more than we can afford.

I pity peeps with kids these days. The weans want very expensive gifts and parents go all out to provide them. It is a bit of madness in a way. The kind that is becoming excessive excess if you get my meaning.

Back in the olden days … here she goes again I hear you say. But it is a fact that we had far less and were much happier. 

Christmas is stress ridden nowadays. It is no longer the season to be jolly. Its dog eat dog to get that must have toy or last chocolate log.

What happened to Good Will to All Men (and women of course)?

Once upon a time (I know! Say nothing). Once upon a time there was never a person on their own on Christmas Day. Neighbours who lived alone were invited to dinner and warmly welcomed. That doesn’t happen anymore and it is truly very sad.

I remember going carol singing and getting warm homemade mince pies as a reward.

We all mucked in to prepare dinner. Granny made the best ever stuffing of breadcrumbs, onion, parsley, salt and pepper. Very simple but absolutely delicious. Everything tasted better then. Perhaps it was because it was a treat and a celebration and not something we got every week.

The turkey bones were boiled for stock and the resulting soup was a tasty meal in itself. It would surprise people nowadays how little was wasted back in those olden days.

We would write our wish list to Santa and send it up the chimney. The anticipation of Christmas Day was as much part of the occasion as everything else. Lying in bed listening for sleigh bells until the sand man came and sent us to sleep. Waking in the morning and running down to find our toys is a memory I will always cherish. And if it had snowed … well that was heaven. I remember the silence of a snowy morning. Everything was soft and beautiful.

My father says that back in his day (the very olden days) there was ten feet of snow and they had to dig their way out. He also told me that my Granddads bus broke down on the Limavady Mountain and was completely buried in snow and they had to wait for the thaw to retrieve it.

Boyd Lamont remembers how bad it was and we used to swap stories about the good old days, snow and all.

When I was a kid there was ice on the inside of the bedroom window and when I turned the cold tap on to brush my teeth the mirror steamed up.    

We had eiderdowns not duvets and were glad to have them. Dad put coats over the top of us to keep us warm. There was no such thing as central heating.

But all in all we had a good time. We didn’t know we were poor. Life was what it was and we got on with it.

Nowadays kids want computers and cars and everything that excess has to offer.
Take a moment to think about the neighbour who is own their own this Christmas and at least take them a shop bought mince pie

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