A few thoughts about Christmas

“From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it.”  ~ Katherine Whitehorn

It never ceases to amaze me how much Christmas ‘stuff’ miraculously appears almost overnight in the shops. I was out with a friend at the mall yesterday, and Santa’s elves had been really busy, decorating all the shop windows. In the centre court, there was a lovely display. We looked down on it from above,

and then went down the escalator for a closer view and to take more photos. It would have been nice to get a pic of my friend sitting on this throne, but it’s a good thing we didn’t decide to implement this idea,

as a very officious person suddenly noticing our cellphone cameras, ordered us not to take any photos. It was too late however, as we already had a few. Father and Mother Christmas were sitting patiently, waiting to hear children’s requests for presents. This reminded me of a cartoon I once saw, where a little girl says to Santa,”…and this year, be sure to keep the receipts, okay?”

My memories of childhood Christmases, are very happy ones, not because we got loads of presents, but because of the good times we shared as a family. Our parents didn’t have much money to spend on toys etc., but they made sure we always had the traditional sock filled with nuts, fruit and candy, as well as a pillowcase containing just enough items to bring us joy and excitement on Christmas morning. My best remembered present was a dolls house which our dad had secretly made for us in his garage. There were tiny pieces of furniture as well as rugs and bed covers that mom had made out of scraps of fabric. My least exciting present was the obligatory manicure set from my aunt, who seemed determined that every Christmas, I should receive the right tools to cut and file my nails. Nevertheless, we were taught to always write ‘thank you’ letters for anything we received, a good habit which unfortunately doesn’t seem to be very prevalent these days.

This Christmas, we won’t, for various reasons, be spending it with family. I think it’s probably the first time ever. All my Christmas ornaments are still in storage in South Africa, but I did bring one precious and easily transportable decoration. A dear friend made this for me a few years ago.

I have hung it on my kitchen chandelier, and it looks so nice that I’m going to go to Pier 1 Imports and buy a few more ornaments to keep it company. I also have my Boyds Bear calendar, which has this picture for December. Why is it that Teddy Bears never smile?

It’s a beautiful sunny but cool day here in Florida. Tomorrow is my third art class, and I have a bit of homework to do, reading up on colour mixing. We’ll be having a spot test, so I’d better know my stuff. Hope your week is going well.