Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Family together in the bleak midwinter
In the deep midwinter....yes, that is what today is.
Well, that's what it is in my heart.
The shortest day.
The calendars say this is the first day of winter - but not me. It is the deepest darkest day of the winter - from today each day will give us just a wee bit more light, hardly noticeable at first until the air feels different and bulbs begin to push their little heads above the surface of the earth.
Of course there will be more cold times, maybe more snow before Spring arrives; but I can feel the hope in the in the air.
But on this winter solstice I feel cheated....a total eclipse of the moon today, and could we see it? No, no no! There was damp murky cloud covering the sky and so no bright images of the moon.
The first time in 372 years that such an eclipse falls on this very significant day and we have cloud cover!
Boo!
But the day has been celebrated in style.
This winter festival time has always been a time for families to be together - particularly in our part of the world where darkness would have kept people indoors in times past.
People have always celebrated the shortest day together with some sort of special meal. Now it mostly happens at Christmas, of course.
Family is a strong tie really - much stronger than perhaps I normally own up to.
Bill is the eldest of 10 children - so Christmas time was very hectic during the 1940s, 50s and 60s in their home.
Those were times when it seemed so very reasonable to have a special meal - unlike any that would be eaten on any other day of the year.
Working people couldn't afford special meals every week - special was opening a tin of fruit and evaporated milk for a pudding!
Nowadays people eat well and waste food every week of the year.
Creating that special Christmas meal is now almost impossible - though the magazines and celebrity chefs are all too eager to advise about what we ought to do!
Come on Paula - get off the soap box and celebrate!
So today we gathered together half of Bill's family - the older retired half
and we assembled in The Jubilee Oak for a traditional Christmas dinner.
We met up at about quarter past one and it was about quarter to five when we departed. That's how a good meal should be - plenty of time for chat and laughter.
I thought the quality of the meal at Wetherspoons was really good - £6.99 and that included one drink of your choice.
Merry Christmas everybody!
There were crackers on the table, decorated with festive paper table cloths....and we dutifully pulled them and donned our hats and groaned at the awful jokes.
Antony is the normal provider of dreadful jokes and puns.
I tried to make sure there was a reasonable picture of each of us - not easy from my position down one end of the table and with the artificial light.
But generally I am sure people will like them.
Here is Antony and his mother, Bill's sister, Pam.
Antony likes his photo - it is already his facebook profile picture.
Bill's sister, Lesley and husband Peter.
Geoff, husband of Bill's sister Jane. 
Bill's sister, Julie and me.
Our waitress was lovely and always helpful. She took this picture of all us with our huge plates full of turkey and trimmings. 
Jane is enjoying Christmas pudding.
Well, that's what it is in my heart.
The shortest day.
The calendars say this is the first day of winter - but not me. It is the deepest darkest day of the winter - from today each day will give us just a wee bit more light, hardly noticeable at first until the air feels different and bulbs begin to push their little heads above the surface of the earth.
Of course there will be more cold times, maybe more snow before Spring arrives; but I can feel the hope in the in the air.
But on this winter solstice I feel cheated....a total eclipse of the moon today, and could we see it? No, no no! There was damp murky cloud covering the sky and so no bright images of the moon.
The first time in 372 years that such an eclipse falls on this very significant day and we have cloud cover!
Boo!
But the day has been celebrated in style.
This winter festival time has always been a time for families to be together - particularly in our part of the world where darkness would have kept people indoors in times past.
People have always celebrated the shortest day together with some sort of special meal. Now it mostly happens at Christmas, of course.
Family is a strong tie really - much stronger than perhaps I normally own up to.
Bill is the eldest of 10 children - so Christmas time was very hectic during the 1940s, 50s and 60s in their home.
Those were times when it seemed so very reasonable to have a special meal - unlike any that would be eaten on any other day of the year.
Working people couldn't afford special meals every week - special was opening a tin of fruit and evaporated milk for a pudding!
Nowadays people eat well and waste food every week of the year.
Creating that special Christmas meal is now almost impossible - though the magazines and celebrity chefs are all too eager to advise about what we ought to do!
Come on Paula - get off the soap box and celebrate!
So today we gathered together half of Bill's family - the older retired half
and we assembled in The Jubilee Oak for a traditional Christmas dinner.
We met up at about quarter past one and it was about quarter to five when we departed. That's how a good meal should be - plenty of time for chat and laughter.
I thought the quality of the meal at Wetherspoons was really good - £6.99 and that included one drink of your choice.
Merry Christmas everybody!
There were crackers on the table, decorated with festive paper table cloths....and we dutifully pulled them and donned our hats and groaned at the awful jokes.
Antony is the normal provider of dreadful jokes and puns.
I tried to make sure there was a reasonable picture of each of us - not easy from my position down one end of the table and with the artificial light.
But generally I am sure people will like them.
Here is Antony and his mother, Bill's sister, Pam.
Antony likes his photo - it is already his facebook profile picture.
Bill's sister, Lesley and husband Peter.
Geoff, husband of Bill's sister Jane.
I have known Geoff longer than Jane has.
We were in the same form at the grammar school when we began there in 1955.
Bill's sister, Julie and me.
Our waitress was lovely and always helpful. She took this picture of all us with our huge plates full of turkey and trimmings.
That was enough for me - but most of the others embarked on some pudding.
Jane is enjoying Christmas pudding.
And so now the Christmas season is has begun - many still have plenty to do to be ready for the big day. Many others still have journeys they are hoping to make. Our Ruth is due to fly off to Madagascar tomorrow and is still unsure of the outcome of two days on the phone and computer.
I hope you are happy with Christmas preparations. It saddens me a little to think of the stress and debt that this time of year creates for some....look out, I might be climbing back on the soapbox!
