Wrapped up for Christmas

Merry Christmas! I'm now back with my parents for Christmas (unless you're a burglar, in which case er I'm actually still at home) and after a busy couple of weeks juggling the buying of presents and writing of cards, I'm finally relaxing into the Christmas spirit. I always enjoy Christmas Eve and the wonderful sense of wellbeing that flows from knowing that there is nothing left to do except eat grapes and cake, and sit back for a day just reading about "The Man Who Swam The Amazon".

Recently though I've been thinking about the many contradictions of the season (with its peculiar mixture of happiness, anticipation and anxiety) and reflecting on how things have changed since I was a child. In those days, when my sister and I were very young, we would wake up desperately early on Christmas morning to find our pillowcases stuffed with presents from Santa - Christmas being one of the two occasions in the year (aside from our birthdays) when we could ask for the big ticket items - like a bicycle, or an electronic keyboard - that were out of reach during the rest of the year. In a sense even though it was focused on material things I suppose it really did still seem rather magical.

These days - being older and of independent means - the magic of Christmas is more about spending time with the family, and less about getting cool stuff (which to be honest I'm able to buy for myself any time in the year). Christmas Day has a different and more enjoyable rhythm, which thankfully no longer includes tearing off wrapping paper at 5:30am: it's about simpler pleasures, like bacon butties for breakfast, everyone chatting and joking together over Christmas dinner, and a trip out in the cold to watch the annual Boxing Day Matlock Raft Race - or a walk along the Seagirt boardwalk with Kyle. (I was very fortunate to spend last Christmas with Kyle in New Jersey with her folks, and I'm sad not to be with her and be able to spend time with them all again this year.)

I do still like to give gifts and send Christmas cards though, and I think this compulsion is what causes me the most (self-inflicted) festive stress - I worry about finding gifts that people will really like or want, and in the past I've found the business of actually wrapping the stuff to be disproportionately taxing. I think I can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of small decisions (like, "will Dad like this book?" or "what's the best way to wrap this hexagonal box?"). But I'm also starting to learn that things get much easier once I stop worrying and (as Kyle suggested to me) try to just enjoy it.

Which brings me back to the feeling that I enjoy the most, which is when everything is finally done: cards written and presents wrapped. It's then that I feel I can actually take the time to enjoy the simple things - like how the ice on the pavement twinkles like glitter in the weak winter sun (something I'm sure that Kyle would appreciate!), the satisfying crunchiness of the snow underfoot, or simply being able to sit and read a book all day.

Hopefully you're also enjoying your Christmas Eve wherever you are. So before I get back to my book, once again: Merry Christmas to you!

Happy Holidays!

I'm so grateful to Kyle for repairing the buttons on the one coat that I have here - over recent days the temperature has plummeted, and the snow that fell at the weekend is now covered by a hard shell of ice. In the bright winter sun it looks beautiful, like giant cake frosting, and gives a satisfying crunch underfoot, but it's at the same time it can be very slippery (and I also saw alarmingly large chunks suddenly sliding off the rooftop of the nearby KFC and crashing to the ground when I went out for milk earlier). It certainly feels like winter now - appropriately, since winter officially began with the solstice on the 21st.

It's only a few days now until Christmas and everyone seems to be wishing us "Happy Holidays!", which to me has always felt like one of those quintessentially American turns of phrase - it's hard to imagine someone in the UK saying it. For Britons it's "Merry Christmas!" all the way. But "Happy Holidays" does reflect some of the multicultural flavour of the US, and the fact that Christmas isn't the only December holiday (religous or otherwise).

For example, if you go into a card shop looking for a Christmas card you will most likely also see a very nice selection of "Happy Hanukka!" cards, since the Jewish festival of Hanukka falls in December (it started on the 22nd this year). Then on the 26th December the week-long African American holiday called Kawanzaa begins. I'd never heard of Kawanzaa until I saw a poster for it in Princeton, but apparently it has been celebrated here as an "alternative" holiday to Christmas since it was instituted in 1966.

(At the same time I'd note that there are some British traditions that Americans don't share, for example they don't seem to have Boxing Day or Christmas crackers.)

Historically the Winter Solstice has been a significant date for many cultures and has been marked by various feasts and festivals through the ages. So I suppose the phrase "Happy Holidays!" is a good way to wish someone well in the spirit of the season, without reference to a particular religion or belief system. It also seems quite appropriate for people celebrating a form of "commercialised Christmas", which Kyle and I like to refer to as "Giftmas", and which retains the traditions of tree-decoration, gift-giving, over-consumption and angst whilst dispensing with just about all religious elements.

Anyway, in spite of how near we are to the 25th, I'm still waiting for Kyle to finish working on Christmas Eve before I can really feel like Christmas is here. And it's a little odd not to be spending Christmas with my folks this year, for the first time ever - but I'm still thinking of them and wishing them well. Happy Holidays everyone, wherever you are!