Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated May 7, 2008
The Post
Christmas Prose Competition 2007
Counting Our Blessings by Websailor
I really do not know where the past year has gone. It doesn't seem five minutes since I was wrapping Christmas presents for 2006, and now look at us!
The festive season isn't the happiest of times for everyone and now I find writing cards can be quite a painful process. This year I have lost so many precious people, and the list is depleted. Yet at the same time I have made so many new friends to add to the list, and that is a joy.
In spite of my reservations about the 'waste' of paper and the commercialisation of Christmas, I still feel it is important to send cards to let people I rarely see know I am thinking of them. The sentiments expressed should come from the heart.
Home made cards are becoming very popular now, and the knowledge that someone has spent time and effort to make something special is heartwarming. Recycling can play a big part, too, as last year's cards can be turned into new designs with a bit of thought, and with a little care they can be made into excellent gift tags. They always go well on our charity stalls and cost very little.
It is sad, too, that the traditional cards with robins and snow scenes do not seem to reflect our winters any more, though no doubt many people will be pleased about that. There is something magical about a heavy fall of snow at Christmas, the heavenly silence, so rare these days, and the way people's attitudes change as they help each other, as they did in the past.
I have a treasured memory of a relative coming to my home from Cornwall to stay for Christmas. She had never seen snow, ever. We didn't hold out much hope of snow, but at about 7 o'clock on Christmas Eve, it snowed, and snowed. The look of wonder on her face will stay with me forever.
There is so much we take for granted in this life, but it is the simple things that make life good, not the expensive gizmos, 'must have'-bling and trashy glitter.
Christmas trees are in short supply this year, and holly too, but mistletoe is thriving; so make good use of it. A hug is as good as any medicine! It is possible to make a 'tree' from pretty branches, as I have done in the past. Expensive and flash does not necessarily a Happy Christmas make. Home-made baubles are just as attractive, and natural decorations - twigs, berries, leaves, and flowers, feel much more Christmassy. The smell of real pine is wonderful, but there are plenty of natural substitutes.
We really cannot afford to keep destroying trees for frivolous purposes, and making the best of what we have should be part of the Christmas spirit. We should be examining gifts we plan to buy for non FSC timber (in both wooden and paper goods), palm oil (in soaps, cosmetics and foodstuffs) and anything remotely connected with endangered wildlife, giving them a wide berth. Give those plastic wine stoppers the elbow too, and stay with cork.
This earth has so much bounty to offer, yet we abuse it at every opportunity and probably more so at this time of year than at any other. Buying locally is in vogue, and Boy! the importance of that was brought home to me with a vengeance as I waited for a bus on our main road. Seeing it choked with ever larger lorries, nose to tail, many from foreign parts, makes me wonder what on earth we are doing. We need to buy more home-grown and home-produced goods whenever possible.
Turkeys are scarcer this year for a variety of reasons, so perhaps we should buy something else for a change. I see half carcasses, with enough meat on them to feed a family, just thrown away after Christmas, so buying smaller seems a good idea.
There are so many leftovers that can help feed wildlife in the bitter cold weather most of the UK is experiencing at the moment. There should be no stale cake, biscuits, puddings or rice discarded, as the birds will devour them, and meat and vegetables will be greeted with delight by foxes, squirrels and other creatures that visit. Chopped pasta is greeted with excitement, too, and and used fat should be hardened and put out for the birds. Be careful not to leave food on the ground for too long though, as you may attract some unwanted visitors. One word of warning at this point - no high sugar, high salt foods, especially salted peanuts, should be included.
Straying from wildlife for a moment, this won't apply to chocoholics who would never give away their comfort food, so you can look away now!! Please don't give chocolate to your dog, or anyone else's, as it could kill them. Ignore those pleading looks and whines, and keep boxes of your goodies well out of reach.
Equally, don't throw the blackbirds' favourite food on the lawn, put them on a table, as for some reason cats like them, but they can cause them kidney problems.
Whenever I feel the Xmas spirit is lacking, I stop and think. Of all the people flooded out this year and still living in caravans and tents in gardens. Of those who are ill or dying, and their families. Those with almost nothing to eat, drink or buy for the festive season. I think especially of those alone through no fault of their own.
Suddenly life does not seem so bad as I look round with 'new eyes' - at the flowers blooming out of season, and the birds battling to survive, against all the odds, in this cold weather. I look at our foxes, squirrels and badgers and think of all the pleasure they have brought us throughout the year. I look at sunsets anew, and the frost and dew on plants in the early morning. Small pleasures, but enough to make a difference. A glimmer of sun and a blue sky lightens the gloom and the world does not seem such a bad place after all.
Among all the tinsel, baubles, wrapping paper and hype, it is people and living things that matter, the rest is just the icing on the cake - and too much of that will make you ill.
Lastly, thoughts of a warm fire, my family, the glorious scents of Christmas - herbs, spices, and cooking smells etc, find me counting my blessings, every single one.
I hope you have some blessings to count, too, and if not, perhaps you could make a difference to someone else, whether human or animal, and bask in the joy you have brought to them.
Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year.
The Post Christmas Competitions 2007
