What do you love most about this time of year? Is it the nightly thunderstorms that start as tiny buildups in the west and end as growling monsters, with the Norse god, Thor, throwing lightening bolts around the skies?
Perhaps it’s the frenetic shopping? With my poorly developed shopping gene I can’t say I get any great pleasure out of witnessing the car parking rage or checkout rants from stressed shoppers… I want to give them all a big hug and tell them to relax, it’s Christmas time!
Maybe it’s the tangy smell of mangoes followed an instant later by that wonderful tart sweetness of the fruit? Is it baking cakes and puddings for Christmas? (Thanks to Cathryn Hein and Michelle Douglas I have a perfect cake sitting in its box waiting to be eaten!)
Perhaps wrapping pressies is your favourite thing. I used to colour coordinate each year with a palette of paper and ribbons. These days I barely find time to wrap my gifts in some cheerful paper before sending them on their way…
Maybe it’s the holidays and time to put your feet up for a few days? Do you have a To Be Read Pile? Are you about to decimate it in an orgy of reading?
For me I love catching up with friends and family at this time of year. I know I shouldn’t need an excuse to do
that, but so often life gets in the way and even friends who live close by become relegated to FB contact. At Christmas time it has to be face to face or at least a chat on the phone. For those on the other side of the world there’s always Skype.
I’ve had a few days in Brisbane this week, met some old friends and some new additions. I’ve driven to the south coast, the north coast and the west. I’ve laughed and hugged and cried and caught up on the news. I’m ready to go home now and my life is richer for all those conversations.
People – that’s what I love most about Christmas 🙂
I love doing the drive around looking at the lights, Margaret. I’m always amazed at the inventiveness that goes into making their displays unique each year.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Thanks for being a regular blog visitor this year and wishing you all the very best for 2013.
Much as I love mangoes, the best part of Christmas for me is being with friends and relatives. You’re quite right when you say that we often don’t have much time for face-to-face contact, so Christmas gives us a special chance. Being a kid at heart, I also like the lights that decorate suburbia.
Merry Christmas to you and family, not forgetting mighty Zeus. 🙂
I can understand your dislike for the commercial side of things, Jenn. It’s all gone a little crazy…
Love the idea of reflecting on New Year Eve on the year gone and the year to come. I’ve never been one for making resolutions but I do like to imagine where I think we’ll be in twelve months time.
A huge year ahead for you and I hope it’s filled with much love, laughter and success.
Puppy pats back to Strawberry and Daiquiri and all the best to you and J 🙂
Sandy, what a lovely way to start the day. I’m always awake early and I love sitting out by the pool with a cup of tea, listening to the world waking up around me.
Very glad my wolf didn’t devour the sun yesterday! And very happy that the Mayan’s calendar reset. Bron is living quite close to the little town in France that was identified as safe in times of world ending disasters. Sounds like a three ring circus!!
I’m not a Christmas person. I leave that to kids. While I recognise the occasion, I dislike the commercial side. I save my celebrations for NYE. I like the idea of reflecting on the year gone and taking lessons forward into a new one: knowing how to be a better partner, daughter, sister, friend…..author!
Marry Christmas to you and yours and puppy pats to Zeus boy.
Definitely not the shopping. I try to get that out of the way as early as possible.
For me it’s the sense of ‘good will’ and hope that seems to fill the air (except in shopping centres). I love getting up very early on Christmas morning (while it’s still dark before dawn) and go outside into the garden. There always seems to be a hint of magic in the air. Then I go back to bed. 🙂
Your cloud picture looks like a wolf about to devour the sun, which could be appropriate for today – or tomorrow, depending on when the 21st of December, 2012 is for you.