Christmas

 

Christmas

For me Christmas is all about children, contact with friends and family and gourmet eating and drinking. Believe it or not there is room for spirituality in there, if not religion. It may sound hedonistic but, for me, it is not.

In the absence of children and family it reduced to contacts, eating and drinking. In principle all this should be good but the contacts at my time of life always has a potential sad edge. I contacted my family on Christmas morning and all were well and preparing to enjoy their Christmas lunches. But what of those from whom I have heard nothing? When, many years ago, I was working as a volunteer at the Oxfam bookshop in Reading, the manageress said that if any of the older volunteers did not turn up when expected she just assumed they had died. If that was a bit cold-blooded it was not an unreasonable assumption. I shall of course follow up on my “absentees” but with a little trepidation.

Christmas began early for me, on the 13^th of December to be precise, when I went to the Christmas dinner organised by the Amitié Mollanaise. Smoked salmon, foie gras and confit de canard were all on offer and gratefully consumed. The village was already decked out with its Christmas lights, in blue and white, colours dear to the heart of a Chelsea football club supporter (but the less said about that perhaps the better).

On Christmas eve friend Sylvie invited me to join her and her extended family for their Christmas meal, again enjoyable for her daughter is a good cook, centred on pork and with enjoyable company to boot. The evening introduced me to what may be what may be a general practice or simply a family one. The children got their presents but not the adults. The adults don’t exchange presents but add some trinket to a collection for which they “fish” the next day. I must find out how common this is.

On Christmas day itself I went to Daniel’s for lunch with assorted friends; prawns, oysters and roast lamb. So on Boxing day it was down to me. I invited seven friends which meant that for space we had to eat in the large terrace room upstairs and also meant I got some of the exercise needed to burn off the calories consumed on the previous two days, carrying dishes up and down two floors. I’d bought prawns, oysters and a cold chicken and prepared some salads. We started with champagne and one of my friends had bought a good bottle of Gigondas to which I added a Gevrey Chambertin and a Pouilly Fumée. A friend also brought the traditional Yule log. So what’s not to like?

All in all that was a somewhat hectic Christmas but definitely an epicurean and enjoyable one. I think my stomach needs a rest for a few days. As to the 31^st, nothing is yet decided. It remains for me to follow up on those from whom I have heard nothing, with a little trepidation.

I’ve no idea what the new year will bring but, for myself, little if any deterioration in my vision and hearing. For others I wish peace, comfortable survival if prosperity is not a prospect, and goodwill.

Christmas Letter And Rip-off Country

 

It’s that time of year so here is my Christmas letter to friends.

Christmas Letter

So it’s been a year of mixed fortunes but not a bad one. In fact there have been a number of positives in it, the most significant being that I’m still alive. The downside is that I can’t say the same for some good friends and relatives. That’s how life goes now.

My family are all well, happy and successfully doing the various things that they do in their lives. That is a definite and the most important positive.

The world…….. ? I think I’d better leave that to what you want to make of it. Could be better ? Certainly. Beyond that you can make up your own mind but efeating the extreme right-wing demagogues, funded by the obscenely wealthy, present in most countries seems to me a priority.

All of which reduces to me. Well…...I still think I am lucky and privileged to be where I am.

My deteriorating eyesight has meant I have had to give up driving and my hearing is on ongoing battle so I have had to make considerable use of medical services here which I have found excellent. It has also meant reduced indpendence and more reliance on friends who have similarly proved extremely helpful.

What makes me still want to get up in the morning ? As ever it is boules, gardening, football and writing. I also continue to give the free English conversation lessons in the Mairie.I haven’t done anything of note except going to see my family in the UK, a trip that was very enjoyable if not very long; they all lead busy lives that I can interrupt for only a short time and my limited mobility means that there is not much scope to stay and explore the surroundings by myself. But I found London to Avignon by train in 6 hours 10 minutes impressive.

So for most of the year it comes down to ……..

I’ll deal with football first. It may not surprise you to know that I no longer play. However I do watch, avidly on TV, especially when my team, Chelsea is playing. An aunt took me to see them play when I was 10 and that became a lifelong loyalty. I once saw a survey that found that men changed their loyalty to football teams less often than they changed their wives and so it has been with me.

On the boules front I still play regularly and most of the time quite successfully if not to the standard that helped me win tournaments in the past. I now sometimes need help knowing exactly where the cochonet is.

Gardening has been a mixed experience. The floral display in front of my house has been as successful as usual and appreciated by all in the village. The allotment was not as successful as last year, although still useful. I’m not sure why, a number of factors could contribute, but that’s how it turned out. I’ll hope to do better next year (as all gardeners do)

Which leaves writing. There I can point to one definite success. The guide for visitors to Mollans which I wrote and published, with a lot of help from friends Claudine and Jacques, has sold well and should make the hoped for 1700-1800 euros for the school here over the next couple of years. Apart from that I have been writing an autobiography, largely for my grandchild, a kind of apologia of me and my ancestors, so that she in later years may understand how life was lived in the last 80 years or so. I have also continued a project to write a response to Voltaire’s « Lettres Philosophiques » on the English from the opposite point of view. As ever Claudine, my faithful critic and nterpreter, is in tow. I’m not sure what I’ll do with these when finished, print them as a vanity exercise or just leave them in electronic form. I’ll decide that later and, anyway, the reesarch and interest are justification for me in themselves and appease my obsession to keep writing.

So that’s my year. I hope yours has been as fulfilling and happy. And let me wish you and yours a happy Christmas and new year. My Christmas won’t be with family because they all have a number of considerations and priorities with which to juggle and to which I don’t want to add ; but it will be with many good friends.

Rip-off country

Viewing a recent TV programme on Norway made clear to me some of the reasons why the UK is a mess. One thing Norway and the UK have in common is that both are outside the EU; but that is about the only thing the countries have in common. Norway stayed out to protect it’s fishing industry, integral to its economy. The UK came out because the country accepted being conned. Important to both countries economies is north sea oil. Norway has kept most of the proceeds in the hational coffers and still has them: the UK gave most of them away to private shareholders and they have disappeared into private pockets (and possibly tax shelters). The Norwegian economy also depends heavily on the export of wood which it culls from extensive forests which it is expanding whilst culling. The UK once had extensive forests but these have long disappeared. Norways train network, which is nationalised, runs through much of the most difficult terrain in the world, featuring snow, ice and mountains, with 90% punctuality. The UK train network, which is mostly privatised, faces no such challenges and struggles ti get above 80% punctuality. The Norwegian tax regime is one of the highest in the world; the UK tax regime is middling and governments strive to get it lower. Norway has abundant water, the supply is nationalised and is harnesses for hydroelectric power; the UK has has abundant water, the supply is privatised and a lot of it is lost in floods and trough leaky water pipes. So which country is moving in the better direction? And what are the lessons?