It was Christmas Day yesterday and when I woke up, the streets in my neighbourhood were still and quiet. It was like a Sunday but the stillness was much more intense, perhaps because the background hum of traffic was almost silent. Christmas is a big thing in the UK and everything shuts down by Christmas Eve so that everyone can be where they need to be by Christmas morning - for most people, that means being with their families, wherever in the country that may be and no matter how arduous the journey might be to get there, given rain, snow, fog and other transport problems.
Sipping my coffee in the front room, looking out at the deserted street, I pictured all the households in the UK filled with people just getting up and gathering in their living rooms with the Christmas tree and presents. Some of them would have been up already for hours, working on the Christmas lunch of turkey, roast potatoes and the ubiquitous brussel sprouts. There’s an unspoken pact, it seems to me, that no-one is really allowed to leave the safe, warm confines of the house on Christmas Day, unless it is to go en masse for a family walk. Or to go for an early morning run, I noted, as a couple of joggers trundled by.
What did you do yesterday? How did you spend Christmas Day 2007? Were you with your family? Or perhaps you escaped it all with an overseas holiday? Did you, like some poor souls, spend in at the airport - due to delays caused by bad weather?
Angie and I had a quiet day together, just the two of us. Some Christmases, we spend with family and do the whole Christmas festivities thing with presents, party hats, carols and lots of people all around. But some years, like this year, it’s quite nice just to spend it quietly together in peaceful tranquillity. The first time it was just the two of us for Christmas, I felt a bit strange - as if somehow, we were sad, lost souls with no friends and family. But now, I really relish it - though only for some years, not every year!
We had veal escalope in a creamy mushroom sauce for lunch, followed by Sacher Torte given to us by a friend. It took half an hour to prepare and it was delicious. I’m not a great roast turkey fan nor do I enjoy spending a festive holiday cooking for hours, so it was just perfect for us. We watched the Bourne Ultimatum on DVD - a great thrills and spills movie to grip us while outside, the afternoon darkened and the drizzle continued.
We did manage our annual Christmas Day walk in the morning before lunch. In the rain. I reckon that if we had taken a photo every year of our Christmas Day walk, at least half of them, if not more, would show us wet, cold, bedraggled and sodden - just like this year. Because Christmas Day in the UK would not be Christmas Day without rain. It can get pretty grim, I imagine, if you don’t happen to get on with your family or extended family and finding yourself trapped in a small house for 24-48 hours while it rains endlessly outside and there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do beyond the garden gate. I think that’s why on Boxing Day, some people rush to the sales - it’s the relief of running away from the intensity of that enforced time with their families!
In the park where we walk, there’s a bench that is dedicated to the memory of a man who died about 10 years ago, in his early forties. Every Christmas, there is always a bunch of flowers there. This year, there were sprigs of mistletoe interlaced in the wooden slats. I don’t know who he is and we’ve never seen who places these tokens there. But he must have been - and must still be - very loved.
It always makes me think how lucky I am that many of the people we love are still around for us to share this holiday time with.
Let me know how you spent Christmas Day - please add a comment or send me an email via the Contact link at the top right of this page.
