h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

But I think I must be getting soft in my old age as I've started getting into the Christmas spirit far more this season than I have done in many a long year.

To be fair, there is much about Christmas I like, even some of the religious trappings, despite being a devout atheist. Christmas for me just wouldn't be Christmas without the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, and the moment the lone choirboy, standing in front of that Reubens, starts singing Once in Royal David's City, my eyes do start to moisten a little.

And let's not forget the comestibles, the edibles, the vittles and the drinkables. My Christmas pudding is undergoing its first (six-hour) steaming as we speak. I've never experienced a Christmas without in my entire life, and I don't intend to break that run this year.

I shall be watching a Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show again this year, possibly the one with Penelope Keith. I haven't made up my mind yet. And perhaps a Royle Family too.

But this year I've done more than just the few traditions I hold onto each festive season. I'm actually enjoying some of the Christmas music that's around me. Not the awful and continual stuff that's played in the shops, but certainly the carol arrangements the local classical music station plays around this time of the year. And I went out and bought a few modest decorations a few days ago. I haven't put any of those up in a long while. It's given me a rather comforting feeling.

I suppose that when you get beyond the point in your life where you know there's more of it behind you than in front, and most probably by a margin, you start to wonder how many more Christmases you might see, and perhaps decide it's time to make the most of each one that's left because it might only be in single figures. Eric Morecambe, for instance, died at the same age as I am - 58. Many have died younger, including our noble founder. A few schoolfriends are no longer around, as are several names on the Researcher list here. You never know when the scythe will fall.

I do hope it isn't too soon. I feel like I'm just starting to get the hang of this life.