Just a few thoughts about this morning waking up in another hemisphere. I left the rain and the cold of England for the warmth of Australia on Wednesday. It’s my cousin’s 80th birthday on Christmas Day so we have come over to Sydney to help him celebrate.
So on Friday 13th, very much not an unlucky feeling day, I got up to see the dawn breaking over one of my favourite places. To be honest I had been up since before 3am, but 11 time zones and 21 hours of flying in less than a day will do that to you!
There were times when I wondered if I would ever see Australia again, having reluctantly left in 2005 after my Masters degree, despite having been offered a job. (Immigration rules put paid to that.) This morning I put it all to one side as I watched the city wake up, listened to the unfamiliar bird song and saw the early risers walking dogs and heading to the gym or to work.
There is something magical about the dawn of a new day in a new country. Not only your day, but your life seems to hold a number of possibilities that perhaps you lose sight of in the daily grind of job, responsibilities and doom scrolling. You see freshness and opportunities where you forgot they existed. You see your own life as having more potential, whatever stage you are in the ageing process and wherever you are in your career. The gift of that realisation cannot be overstated.
Some of you may regard these thoughts as the ‘false creation of the heat oppressed brain’ (!) and perhaps they are, but they are no less real and no less important for all that. For the first time in a long time I remembered that I am privileged to see the new day and I hope that I continue to remember that even after I have left ‘The lucky country’.
Is there anything more intrinsically connected with our Christmas memories than food? It is the time of year when we will eat special dishes and, in many cases, much more than we usually do. We have turkey with trimmings, traditional and non-traditional, special cakes, desserts and other sweet dishes. We keep special food for this special time. I cannot imagine Christmas Day sitting in the lounge waiting for someone else to cook the food as the kitchen is my territory!
The attached blogpost from 2022 reflects more on the ideas and feelings than the recipes and the way that Christmas food makes us feel. Perhaps if you read the original article it will make you think about your own relationship with Christmas in its culinary sense. Happy reading, happy cooking and may all your festive meals be a success.
https://davidgpearce205.blog/2022/12/23/christmas-cooking-and-baking/
I know that any mention of the royal family can prove divisive and that the idea of an article about speeches could come across as fairly dull, but if you give the article below a chance I think you will find it genuinely interesting. It was written in 2022, just over three months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen’s Christmas Speech was an integral part of my Christmas Day for my entire life, and one that I took for granted. Actually, when you read the speeches and look at the themes, it is quite clear to see the person behind the position and her views on matters of faith and society. The original post is below.
https://davidgpearce205.blog/2022/12/24/the-queens-christmas-messages/
I have spent three Christmas seasons in Australia so far as I say in the original post, and this year I will be having my fourth! It is my cousin’s 80th birthday on Christmas Day so we are going to help him celebrate whilst enjoying Antipodean festivities one more time. The article I link to below was from 2022 when I couldn’t imagine going back again, but rereading it has reminded me about the very different magic of Christmas under the sun. Give it a read and wish me luck as I board the plane tomorrow, because I am not a good flier!
https://davidgpearce205.blog/2022/12/19/christmas-in-australia/
I often look back as regular readers of my blog will know all too well! This article reflecting my childhood Christmas Days was one that I wrote from a kaleidoscope of memories and it is my own experience. I think it is, however, probably quite true to the Christmases of so many of us who grew up in this decade.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 