Bah humbug! 2017 Version

I went food shopping yesterday (November 24). The store was decorated with Christmas stuff, there were lots of electronics for sale at the entrance ( in celebration of Black Friday), Christmas paper displays and Lord help us - there was Christmas music playing - loudly - over the P.A. system.

I understand that it is important (for the store owners) to remind us as often as possible that at this time of the year, we need to go into debt to buy presents for our loved ones (and ourselves). I understand that the current theory of marketing is if the customer is overwhelmed with advertisements, inducements and pleasant, if boring music that they will be seduced into buying stuff early and frequently. That the sooner we start to buy stuff, the more that we will buy. I understand that thousands if not millions of people's lives depend upon how much stuff we collectively buy. Unfortunately most of the people live in China or other off-shore countries. I understand that the owners of Supercentre, Wal-Mart and other major corporations assume that I am a complete idiot who can be and in fact needs to be manipulated into making any decision at all.

I can ignore, with some irritation the Christmas displays that partially block aisles, of the additional "seasonal" food items strategically placed to catch my eye thereby making it harder to find the items that are usually in that spot and the absurdity of having electronic toys and sound systems placed in the entrance of a food store - but I find it very difficult to ignore the music. It is loud, boring and just irritating. For those of us who chose to not celebrate this season in the usual fashion, for those of us who find this time of year particularly challenging or emotionally stressful, for those of us who feel isolated or depressed - the last thing we want to hear for the next month is bloody Christmas music all telling us that it is the most wonderful time of the year.

My personal bet is that those folks who want to celebrate Christmas - know that Christmas is a month away. The vast majority of those people know what they have to do - they do not need to be reminded. Those people who don't want to or can't celebrate the day - don't need to be reminded either.

Turn off the music- please!

Christmas Cactus

There was a time when going to an auction was my young family's main form of entertainment. We went to a lot of auctions. We generally did not buy a lot of stuff but we went often enough that a couple of the local auctioneers knew us by name and would greet us. Sometimes if the bidding was slow, they would call out to us and ask us to bid on something to get the ball rolling. It was a pleasant, low cost way of spending our Saturdays. A few years after we bought our house (at an auction), one of the local auctioneers built an auction barn just down the road from us. Those auctions were usually on Friday evenings. I would frequently just pop down, check what was there and then if there was nothing interesting come home. It was a chance to slow down from the work week, say hi to neighbours, do a bit of complaining about the weather and still be home in good time.

One Friday, during a particularly traumatic period in my life, my daughter, my son and I went down to that auction barn - just to see what was there. I had no intention of buying anything - my life was just far too chaotic to even think about adding anything else to the mix. However one of the first items offered was a Christmas Cactus. No one seemed to want it, so my daughter bid on it and got it. Why? I will never know. I think it was the first thing she ever bought at an auction, she was not known then (or now) for having either a passion for growing things or for that matter a particularly green thumb. But we took it home with us and for the last twenty-five or so years it has been part of every home I have lived in.

The plant has, in fact taken on an unusual and unexplainable significance. Parts of it have travelled three times across the country as I have moved back and forth between B.C. and Ontario, a little clipping has flown with me from Sudbury to Nanaimo (I knew the main plant would freeze when travelling in a moving truck in the middle of winter), it has died and been reborn through clippings or sheer luck more times than I can count as neither my daughter or I are one of those people who have a special relationship with plants. But still it lives - with one plant in Sudbury and another in Duncan. It will always have a special place in my memory - as a symbol of a difficult time that that the kids and I got through together and has a reminder that we all have the capacity to grow, in spite of difficult circumstances - if we can only hang in there just a little bit longer.

But this Christmas Cactus has for me, seldom flowered. It may have only produced blooms for me three or four times in 25 years (my daughter's portion has done a bit better). This year it has flowered and it is quite glorious.

I am happy.