Sunday, December 25, 2005

Happy Christmas!

The weather has cooled, just in time for the strange ritual of eating a hot dinner in the middle of summer. A lot of us still do things upside down here and I know that my mother will have the whole shebang - roast turkey and ham and vegetables and a steaming home made pudding. Perfect for a winter climate, though perhaps a little eccentric in the southern hemishere.

Its a strange quiet day, when people stop doing what they normally do and indulge in excesses of eating and drinking, of bonhomie (false or otherwise) and piety. They greet people they normally wouldn't and spend hours in the company of those they can barely abide. I rather like it though.

Just a verse from Mr Betjeman to tail things off for the day. And perhaps, as a reminder....

'And is it true? And is it true
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass windows hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?'

(from, Christmas)

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