It’s that time of year again. In many ways it’s arrived sooner that I thought, but it’s always great when it does. Out of all the times to be at home, Christmas is perhaps the best. Having just returned home from university, I’m relishing not having to worry about conserving money, and the festivities are currently at the forefront of my schedule. That doesn’t mean I couldn’t take time out to write this post, as even poets have something to say about Christmas. The best I can do is to share a little bit of what Christmas is like in my home village.
I know some readers have been wondering where exactly I live
in South Wales, and I’m pleased to finally provide the answer. I live in Frynwys,
a small village to the south of the Valleys. It has a few central features; the
village hall, a pub and a small shop all within a few hundred yards of each
other. As a result everyone goes to the same place for their milk. The streets
in Frynwys are quite close together, meaning that you can’t walk a short
distance without encountering give different sets of Christmas lights. People
who live here tend to be somewhat competitive with their lights, with some
houses trying to outdo each other with the elaborate decorations. It makes for
a Christmas that’s brightly illuminated if nothing else.
My house has now been decked with bells of holly and such.
Actually it’s been decked with tinsel and baubles; there aren’t any bells of
holly. But there are quite a lot of lights and a few Christmas trees about the
place. Tinsel which didn’t end up on the trees is now decorating the
bannisters, the kitchen and the living room. The presents started arriving last
week and there’s a fair few of them already. How many there’ll be on Christmas
Day is still down to guesses (when is it not?), but I suspect there’ll be at
least twice or three times as many as there are now.
The last time Frynwys saw a white Christmas was ten years
ago in 2004. I learned this week that for it to truly be a white Christmas,
snowflakes must be falling on the day, as well as snow being on the ground. From
what the weather forecast has been saying recently, the chances of this
happening are slim to put it mildly. Instead we’re getting rain, and lots of
it. It’s mostly light drizzle at the moment, but when it’s like this for days
on end it feels like you’re trapped in a particularly gloomy painting. The most
recent forecast is claiming that it will be a lot dryer on Christmas Eve, but
the last time I trusted the weather forecast my hopes were dashed and I had to go to
school that day.
Aside from the weather and the decorations, the things that
most people look forward to on Christmas Day are the presents. When I was asked
what I wanted this year, it took me a while to provide an answer. I don’t know
why, but the same innate excitement at the prospect of dozens of presents under
the tree has slowly evaporated. Maybe that’s what happens when you’re an adult,
but it’s not great, and this year I’m going to great lengths not to see any
presents being placed under the tree. It’s proven slightly harder this year
because new presents are appearing all the time, but I think I’ve marginally
succeeded in steering clear of the tree this year.
Speaking of presents, I’ve bought a few for my family while
I was away at university. They took a while to find, but I’m just hoping
they’ll like them. One thing I’ve discovered since being a student is that time
management is of the utmost importance. Because I’m the most unpunctual student
there’s ever been, I ended up buying my presents at the last minute. Then
again, I suppose since many people are doing this when Christmas comes around,
maybe I’m not as monumentally late as I think.
I hope this has given you some idea of how Christmas is going for me at the moment. As this post is going out on the day itself, I hope everyone is well and that you all have a brilliant time.
Merry Christmas Everybody!
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