JOYS OF CHRISTMASTIDE

Dec 24, 2017 Consumer Concerns, Features / Columnists

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By PAT DIAL

To-day, Sunday, is the beginning of Christmas Week; it is also Christmas Eve. The Christmas Season will continue until the end of the year, and with some families even until Twelfth Night, that is on January 6. There is so much to enjoy and so much to be thankful for during this Season. For one, there is the weather which, this year so far, has been sunny. At this time the days and nights are cooler with the refreshing Trade Winds fanning the entire coast. The sun sets much earlier than say, in August, and the sunsets are not the brilliant orange and bright colours of that month. The sunsets are cool orange, turquoise, blues, slate, shreds of yellow (gold) and purple.
The combination and merging of these, present a unique beauty which will never recur, and the dusks are longer moving from the russet and gold-tinted light into the opaque blue which subsumes the landscape before nightfall. Each day offers its own unique treat.
The vegetation have a lighter shade of green and there may occasionally be a little mix of spring green and the flowers – bougainvilleas of many colours, yellow buttercups, oleanders, queen of flowers, poppies and hibiscuses – are in bloom in the yards, the fences and hedges.
The skies are of a softer blue and the silver of the clouds seem to be brighter. Older Guyanese used to call this time “the Christmas weather”.
Christmastime offers an inclusive spiritual dimension in which adherents of the other two National Faiths- Hinduism and Islam – could participate with Christians. The Nativity story and the moral and spiritual teachings which go with it have a universalism which transcends all religious differences. Guyanese people could again be spiritually refreshed as they had done at past Christmases.
The moral and spiritual aspects of the festival complement and enrich the commercial and purely secular and offer a deeper joy. Charles Dickens did this for 19th century England and indeed, for the English-speaking world.
The commercial and other secular aspects of Christmastime loom very large. The shops are well-stocked, sometimes with novel gadgets and new items which are being introduced for the first time. And everywhere there are colourful decorations including colourful lights. Children encounter ingenious toys and games.
Most shoppers, these days, never even glance at the decorations but if adults would allow themselves and their children to enjoy the decorations, they would find some of them very artistic and beautiful and find added pleasure from their shopping expeditions.
In enjoying the decorations, children would begin to learn the meaning of colours since each Christmas colour has its own mythology and meaning, and their art work at school would very likely improve. In being confronted with attractive stocks of goods, do not succumb to “cumpulsive” buying. The commercial aspects of Christmas should be enjoyed but do not be overwhelmed by them.
Though many of the parties and dances of the Season have sameness about them, attend them, participate and enjoy them since many of them turn out to be occasions which would leave pleasant memories throughout life.
At Christmas time there is special music not usually heard at other times of the year. Such music ranges from the works of Classical composers like Mozart and Bach to Christmas carols and secular Christmas songs. Such music is evergreen and to older people it awakens nostalgic memories which could be as cathartic as Scrooge being able to recall his past life by the help of the Spirit of Christmas Past.
Children listening and learning such music would be laying the foundation of future pleasant memories. Certain special foods and drinks are prepared at Christmastime and children and adults should savour them since their association with Christmas always evoke nostalgic memories.
Such would include pepper pot, garlic pork for those who ate pork, various types of baked meats, curried chicken, Dutch cheeses and so on and drinks such as jamoon and rice wines, and ginger beer and sorrel and heavy fruit cakes and black cake.
The Guyanese character is generally caring and generous unlike in many other countries where people feel it is the responsibility of the State or humanitarian organizations to assist the poor or less able people.
During the Season, we have visited downtown Georgetown and saw how much goodwill people felt for the old, the decrepit and generally less able. We would not give examples of the many kindnesses being proffered to the less able since it would take up too much of our allotted space. But helping the helpless or those in need would bring much joy and happiness to all.

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