A large portion of my Christmas shopping is now done, certainly all of the family presents have been bought, wrapped, and put under the tree. They would have been anyway, if we had put the tree up yet. Decorating is almost always left to the last minute, or possibly even later, here so with luck the tree will be erected by Christmas Eve. Just do not expect my own Scroogey self to take part in the decorating of it, or any other part of the house. It is not that I do not like decorations, or Christmas, it is just that I find all of the tacky, glittery decorations so gaudy and overstated.
Were decorating to be left to me alone then it would consist of muted greens and reds, mainly in the form of holly and berries with a few pieces of mistletoe, place near doorways, windows and fireplaces. The rest would be candles scattered around carefully, lit in the evenings to try and chase away that cloying wintery darkness, so different from the crushing humid heat of summer, or its clear, fresh airiness if you happen to get lucky. Winter darkness is sweet-tasting, chill and close to the skin.
Anyway I have drifted away from the title of this post. The main point was to try and defend myself as not a Grinch-type character, despite what people at work may think. I do not dislike Christmas, I simply think it is overdone. As proof of this I offer my love of Christmas shopping. I delight in shouldering my way through crowds of cramped, irritable shoppers all searching for that one perfect present. I love the press of people, despite the mild claustrophobia it triggers in me, the sheer chaos of the shops so close to the big event itself. The gaudy decorations never look quite so bad in scale with much larger buildings than those they are usually put in, and the pitiful attempts at Christmas lights by the town council always amuse me.
Once the chaos has been fought and defeated, along with a trip to the supermarket to buy myself a bottle of wine for when I return home in an attempt to drown the adrenaline, the wrapping must be done. Massively overpriced decorated paper where brown parcel paper would make do must be tightly sealed around each gift, hiding the contents from prying eyes and fingers of the receiver as they sit under the tree, teasing with their presence but giving away nothing.
Yes, I enjoy Christmas, I just do not enjoy the overblown build-up to it.
Were decorating to be left to me alone then it would consist of muted greens and reds, mainly in the form of holly and berries with a few pieces of mistletoe, place near doorways, windows and fireplaces. The rest would be candles scattered around carefully, lit in the evenings to try and chase away that cloying wintery darkness, so different from the crushing humid heat of summer, or its clear, fresh airiness if you happen to get lucky. Winter darkness is sweet-tasting, chill and close to the skin.Anyway I have drifted away from the title of this post. The main point was to try and defend myself as not a Grinch-type character, despite what people at work may think. I do not dislike Christmas, I simply think it is overdone. As proof of this I offer my love of Christmas shopping. I delight in shouldering my way through crowds of cramped, irritable shoppers all searching for that one perfect present. I love the press of people, despite the mild claustrophobia it triggers in me, the sheer chaos of the shops so close to the big event itself. The gaudy decorations never look quite so bad in scale with much larger buildings than those they are usually put in, and the pitiful attempts at Christmas lights by the town council always amuse me.
Once the chaos has been fought and defeated, along with a trip to the supermarket to buy myself a bottle of wine for when I return home in an attempt to drown the adrenaline, the wrapping must be done. Massively overpriced decorated paper where brown parcel paper would make do must be tightly sealed around each gift, hiding the contents from prying eyes and fingers of the receiver as they sit under the tree, teasing with their presence but giving away nothing.
Yes, I enjoy Christmas, I just do not enjoy the overblown build-up to it.
3 comments:
very well explained bunny. i do like your take on it, i also love the shopping!
I don't enjoy the build-up, either.
I love getting gifts for people. I even love the wrapping and rushing around making sure I got everything that person would like. It's nice to receive as well, but I really love seeing peoples' faces when they open something I put a lot of thought in to.
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