IT SMELLS LIKE CHRISTMAS

XMASTREE2

 

It’s nearly that time of the year when bad feelings turn fuzzy, when we want to forget all about the long hours of work and the drudgery that comes with them, and the world becomes a snow-covered basket brimming with promises of good things to come.

It’s that time of the year when school and work and duty and backache and family and timetables and recipes and plane tickets and rush-hour presents become a blurry race into a parade of days when fun is a must and time takes on a new meaning.

Family time. Quality time. Eating time. Maybe a bit of spiritual time thrown in with the current.

It’s that time of the year when one word steps up into the limelight. Sharing. We share our time. Thoughts of each other. Things that convey our feelings for someone. A place in our lives that was forgotten amidst the vortex of everyday life.

Christmas is coming, again.

And I say “again” with all the heart-felt anticipation that a child harbours for Christmas Day or Epiphany when, at the first sight of sunlight, you peek from under a sleepy eyelid to find out what your first winter present is going to be.

What does Christmas mean to you? To me it means days off work, hours of recreation, warm and cozy moments around a table with family and friends, ornaments on a tree, jingle bells, surprises wrapped in wondertinfoil, a beaming face of joy at a gift, shopping lists, dancing till the wee hours.

Of course, it also means that everyone knows you have time to spare for their needs. Your house is invaded by aliens who bellow till your ears bleed, who gobble up every piece of turrón and cake and canapé you painstakingly prepared for hours, and who tear apart the beautifully decked tree with those expensive ornaments you just bought. It means you won’t have a moment for yourself until everyone has had their fill and you’re dropping on the floor out of exhaustion. It means endless hours of ever- the-same conversation with badly dressed people who never comment on your perfect attire. It means hundreds of kilos you can’t seem to know how to part with. It means, well, a lot of things you need to remind you it’s that time of the year, again.

I love Christmas. Don’t you?

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