Christmas now gone



The traditional image of Christmas


And so another Christmas comes to an end and we head for the new year. For the moment decorations will stay up, the Xmas tree keeps its place, and the Christmas atmosphere still holds sway. And what went up for Christmas will do just as well for the New Year's celebrations, marking once again the transition from one calendar year to another.

When I was a lad I could hardly wait for Christmas to come round. Now I'm more grown-up than I'd like to be and Christmases seem to come and go all too quickly in rapid succession. But there it is, there's nothing to be done. It's part of the rhythm of life.

This year's Christmas has come in the middle of an economic downturn, with a gloomy forecast of what we can expect in the coming year, and with high unemployment and huge cutbacks in social services and state investment. Amid the usual Christmas cheer and partying, there is fear of what the future holds and the financial austerity that lies ahead.

For all that, my local supermarket is always chock-full of shoppers when I go and the end-of-year sales have drawn the usual stampedes of frenetic bargain-hunters. But that may be just an anomaly. No doubt I'm not taking all the socio-economic factors into consideration. No doubt. Still...

Anyway, I will leave it there. After all, this post was just an excuse to put up a pretty Christmassy scene: snow, snow-man, Christmas tree, sparkling lights, a brilliant star, and the warm glow of houses in the background... you know the stuff. All very pretty, peaceful and perfect!