Christmas is here ........

Christmas is here once again ....... peace on earth, goodwill to all men - plus a great deal of hard work and credit card bashing allowing us to eat drink and be merry for a couple of days. But there is much going on to help relieve the stress of buying presents for friends and family and sending cards to people we never see or speak to from one year to the next. No longer is it just carol singers in shopping centres or visits to Santa in his grotto, giant Christmas trees festooned with hundreds of lights towering above shoppers bustling from store to store, or shop assistants topped with Santa hats and reindeer antlers sellotaping smiles to their faces as they deal with festive queues and turkey tussles. Oh no, Christmas is now much, much more.
German markets, wooden huts laden with Christmas cheer, seem to pop in town and city centres across the country. Packed with all you need for your seasonal celebrations, many are a wonderland of Santas, snowmen, angels and robins nestling beneath shining stars, sparkling snow and flickering candles. Gingerbread houses fight for attention with chocolate fountains, roast chestnuts and spicy fruits. Fancy a quick tipple? Mulled wine, wine that isn't, mulled cider, cider without the mull, mysterious drinks topped with a mountain of cream and marshmallows, German lager, German beer, it's all there, sending out nose-tickling aromas to reel you in. Buy scarves, gloves, hats portraying every animal known to mankind, wooden toys, toys that are not wooden, jewellery, ornaments, stocking fillers, stockings to go around your stocking fillers, everything you need, everything you think you need but don't really, and everything you definitely have no need of at all, yes it's all there. Eat your fill of burgers, pulled pork rolls, hot dogs, crepes, freshly cooked bread ....... then suitably refreshed fight your way through the crowds yet again.
All the fun of the fair appears at Christmas. Visit Edinburgh and see the city from the top of the big wheel - weather permitting - or pick up a few seasonal bumps and bruises on the outdoor ice rink. Carousels across the land are filled with the laughter of children mingling with every Christmas song ever recorded. Ride a train, bounce yourself silly, master a Christmas tree maze, hurtle down a helter skelter, let the big kid in you join your little ones, smile away your worries just for an hour or two ..... This is a time for children, a time for adults who think they are children, a time for families, spending time together, giving, sharing, looking forward to the New Year.
Sometimes I wonder how many of us remember the real reason for Christmas, the story behind the celebrations. The nativity is still played out, although maybe not as prominently as it once was. The first Christmas is still created within our churches, stables can be found in towns sheltering their precious guests. But do we walk past the church doors, or venture in to sing our hearts out or partake of midnight mass? This may be the only occasion we step inside, apart from weddings and funerals, the one time religion may briefly touch our souls. I love Christmas and all it stands for. I love watching the children and grandchildren open their presents, love to see their faces ......... but it is so different to when I was young. The shops were still decorated, the streets adorned with lights, yet somehow it all seemed so much more simplistic, less emphasis on the materialistic and more on families coming together to enjoy the day. And one of my favourite Christmas memories? Walking along the high street with my mum on Christmas Eve - something I will never be fortunate enough to do again - and pausing awhile to listen to the strains of the Salvation Army playing Christmas songs as only they can. A frosty day, a few snowflakes fluttering down from a wintry sky, holding tight to my mum with one mittened hand whilst holding on to my dad's present with the other. Yes, that was truly Christmas .........