Super market welcome christmas

Christmas in America has some fascinating history. (Maybe a history buff will join us.) But now it has grown to a huge economical event that for many retailers indicates the entire year's financial growth and stability or financial death.

Our "Christmas season" officially starts just after our Thanksgiving holiday (last thursday in November ) and runs till the new year.

Westerners go crazy often spending well beyond their limits and going deep into debt during this holiday buying season. But the thrill of the magic and mystique of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve is a great thing for children. Its a time for giving to others.

Our prices on everything are going up drastically primarily due to the rapid increase in fuel here.

Being Catholic, I attend Christmas mass first, then spend time with my family. That's when I'm not to busy brooding over what I think is my government's hypocrisy towards Christmas and Christians. On the one hand, they make it into the biggest festival of the year, with lavish colored lights and decorations lining entire streets in the shopping district. On the other hand, while the constitution guarantees equal treatment for all regardless of race, language or religion, stories with an overtly anti-Christian agenda such as The Da Vinci Code and The Golden Compass are allowed in when anti-Muslim stories such as The Satanic Verses are banned. No wonder I went over to the dark side.

Oooooh! I spotted your curiosity and a request for interesting lighting displays in an earlier post, so here's a local street all decorated and beautiful! Tradition has it that the lights come down on "12^th night", i.e. 6^th January. Until then, let's party!

Christmas in the UK has an interesting history..it was banned for may years by Oliver Cromwell !

It has nothing to do with Christianity whatsoever. Historical record shows Jesus was not born anywhere near Dec 25th.

It is essentially a pagan festival which is about ensuring the return of the sun for another year.

Most Christian festivals are tacked onto pre-existing pagan festivals.

Christmas is great when the kids are young...but once they have grown up it is basically a pain in backside and a feeding frenzy of conspicuous over consumption. It is sad that people are gullible enough to bankrupt themselves in the name of celebration .

The best bit is meeting up with friends and familly and a nice walk out in the countryside on a chilly boxing day.

We don't get snow every year here, so when it does come the beauty of it is especially stunning.

Happy winter solstice one and all

All the shops in Eastgate Shopping Centre will be closed, so there's nothing to scrounge there. I'll be at the temporary soup kitchen in Broadmayne trying to keep warm.

Bah, humbug! <Splutter>

Get together with family and friends to share good food, spirits and a laugh.

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