Nope, not gardening tips.......Christmas!!!!
I actually have Christmas to thank for getting back into the blogging routine. I promised you this time last year that yuletide celebrations would be the subject of the month for 2012 (too bone idle to do it in 2011 I guess), and with time ticking away before we hear the familiar jingle-jangle of sleigh bells outside the bedroom window on the night of the 24th of December (my stalker really does need to stop doing that.....) I need to get my backside in gear.
For me - as for most people young and old - Christmas is a time of celebration; but I also find it a fascinating phenomenon (try saying that after ten pints). It is an occasion the meaning and significance of which often changes as you get older, it is also an occasion capable of such love, kindness and togetherness in one house, whilst next door the four walls are vibrating to the yelling and screaming of blazing arguments as tensions are stretched beyond breaking point. It seems to heighten every emotion; both positive and negative.
I am very glad to relate that in the stories you will hear during this subject of the month, the walls will only be vibrating to the sound of joy, laughter, wrapping ripping paper, Christmas carols and traditional pop songs ('Slade The Herald Angels Sing' and all that) and games; as was usually the case in our house. I am likewisely pleased to report that as much as I fall in and out of love with the whole thing in the run up to the big day, come December the 25th that childhood feeling of fun always creeps its way back into my heart.
So in between running sessions and weigh-ins, I will be taking you on a - very quick! - journey of an Adrian Christmas; some of the stories which meant so much to me, the movies, the traditions, the feelings, the songs. So where do we start? How about when Christmas really starts for me?
Ask Kate Rusby (terrific singer; to be highly recommended) and she would tell you that Christmas officially begins when the Christmas Radio Times comes out, ask many people and they will tell you that the point at which Christmas becomes real is when they are putting up and decorating their tree, some purists may even say that Christmas starts at 12:01am on December 25th (booooooooooriiiiiiinggggg); my Christmas however starts differently (different?......who? me????!).
There is a song, a song which to me is completely and absolutely Christmas. In Dulci Jubilo by Mike Oldfield comes close, Little Town by Cliff Richard even closer, but this song is so full of joy that it's first play of the yule year is anticipated, prepared for, and ultimately relished; it is at that point that Christmas truly begins. I have already planned it for this year; it will be Thursday afternoon in the car as I am wending my way home to the chilly North-West from the slightly less chilly Hertfordshire.
So what is the tune? You are sure you will know it won't you? But you won't. It is not famous, it is damn near impossible to find; but 'Ding Dong Merrily On High' by The Cambridge Buskers is to me, the music of Christmas. Pure joy, pure, positive power. It makes me smile, it makes me dance; and in an instant it reminds me of all that is good about Christmas. If you can find it and download it, play it loud and I promise you, you will not be disappointed. You will also be one of the few people to be in on the secret of such a song, a secret you will be sharing with me and who knows; Christmas for you might also begin on its first hearing!
0 comments:
Post a Comment