If you live in a city or suburb you will probably hope to get away for a change of scenery. As you stand on top of a moor, hearing only sheep bleating, you will say to yourself ‘This is Real Life.’ The same thoughts will surface if you stand on a rocky outcrop feeling the spray from the waves pounding below, or perhaps you have visited a peaceful holy island, Iona or Lindisfarne.
Supposing you move somewhere remote and idyllic, or to the coast and can saunter down to the beach on a wild winter day, dodging waves. Sheer bliss. Then one day you go up to London to visit friends or relatives or for a cultural outing. As you arrive at a London terminus, descend into the underground, hear the rumble of an approaching tube train, then squeeze on board with the multitudes, you find yourself saying ‘Back to Real Life!’
Could it be that real life must involve cities, mainline railway stations and underground trains?
Those millions of us brought up in suburbs anywhere in the world are bound to feel we are never in real life; neither in the bustling heart of the city, nor in the countryside growing food and raising livestock to feed the nation.
When you turn on the television news real life takes on a different dimension. Why are your working on the cheese counter at Waitrose when that girl you were at school with is now a war correspondent standing on a heap of rubble?
Is real life the peace all great prophets have urged us to follow; cherishing the soil, creating harmony, music, arts, science and babies. Or is reality living on a knife edge beneath a volcano or on an earthquake fault line? Are you likely to see your home swept away by fire or flood or do you face death every day in war?
Have you experienced real life or are you still waiting to find it?
How was your Christmas? Did you see Father Christmas?
Did you get the gifts you wanted?
Did you have any unusual presents?
You may well have had a radio controlled lizard as Amazon apparently sold out.
Perhaps you had a gift voucher for an outdoor sauna in the fog, with the opportunity to sit in a barrel of cold water or thrash yourself with branches.
Train sets are always popular in a variety of sizes…
Especially one that goes with your new Lego set
Or maybe you had something unusual…
…such as a sarcophagus…
What was the most unusual present you gave or received?
Stuck for gift ideas? Why not give them an interesting model that’s easy to make.
Or something hand knitted, you needn’t let on who actually knitted it.
For the person who’s got everything, a new gadget.
Christmas is a time for old friends to get together...
…so have a relaxing day, no need to be formal.
Just chill out.
But lots of people still like to bake and get ready … overheard on the bus, a great grandmother and her daughter chatting… ‘I’ve put the Christmas cake mixture on top of the wardrobe because of the mice, but you’ll have to get it down.’ ‘Will I need two arms, because I’ve only got one working.’
If you can’t face visitors for Christmas, just pretend you’re going on a skiing holiday and post a few pictures on Facebook.
Don’t forget to make sure your elf stays warm.
But be careful in the kitchen.
Don’t forget to post lots of pictures of your home on social media or sneak a few pictures of other people’s Christmas trees.
And finally, if Father Christmas is late, it could be because the reindeers are stuck in traffic.