As the usher brings forth the Ice cream and snacks, we wait for the main feature to resume
The Ghost of Christmas Past
Christmas is upon us, after a tough year for the whole world we all want to have a holiday that we all enjoy and takes us away from everyday stresses. If you’re a regular reader of BAFD you’ll know that’s what this place is about. It’s even written in the mission statement.
As with a lot of people Christmas makes me think of Christmas’s past. My parents are no longer with us and my siblings and myself have very little contact. My Christmas now revolves around my wonderful wife my Dogs and cat but I remember significant gifts from my Childhood. I remember receiving my Atari 2600, the Soundtrack and book to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, my Raleigh Arena bike, and a Record player on which the first thing I played was the Soundtrack to (you guessed it) Star Wars. What sticks in my mind more is memories of situations. Relaxing after Dinner and watching the obligatory James Bond Film. My mum forcing us to listen to the Queen’s speech and convincing me that maybe Father Christmas didn’t want sherry this year with his mince pie, he would much rather have a glass of Brandy.
When I first met my wife she was confused about why I took the wrapping paper off presents so carefully , rather than just rip it off. What was drilled into me at a young age was that we would take care when unwrapping. My mum frequently reused wrapping paper either from year to year or even on the same day. Sometimes she would have run out when wrapping presents so it wasn’t unknown to receive a present later in the day with the same wrapping paper that you was on a present you had opened in the morning. To this day I cannot bring myself to rip wrapping paper off a present.
I also have memories of Christmas Holiday Television. In the mornings there was always runs of the old serials such as Flash Gordon or King of the Rocket Men. This was when I cemented my love of such things. There was also almost always a run of the Elvis Presley films. I’m not really into his music but for some reason those films have a pull for me.
Everyone has memories of past Christmas’s, were they better? No they were different. As I said a modern Christmas for me revolves around my Wife and my Dogs. It’s time for us to hopefully have a stress free enjoyable day that feels different to other ones.
We have our own traditions such as watching some Dr Who, last year (or was it the year before) we watched the ‘reboot’ with Paul McGann as our Christmas Doctor. Rosie had never seen it so it was interesting seeing her reaction. There will hopefully be some board games and some great Vegan food. The most important thing for us though is to make it all as stress free as possible. As a full time carer I spend all year cooking our meals so as much as we want some different Christmas food we plan ahead so on the day as much prep as possible is done. The priority for us though is to enjoy ourselves no matter what we do.
Of course I will be dipping into the things I love. There will I assure you be some art, Good Films and maybe some books.
As no one says ‘Have a Cool Yule’.
