A Special Time

Christmas has once again restored a childlike magic in my life, this influence is magnified as once more I felt like a participant in the Nativity story. On Christmas Eve, after our preliminary preparations for the morrow had been completed, Helen and myself relaxed in the evening which culminated in watching, and participating in spirit, the Midnight Mass from Gloucester Cathedral. After a somewhat jaded day, I felt refreshed as we celebrated the birth of the Christ child … the best way to welcome Christmas Day.

On Christmas morning, as we lay abed, I enjoyed and felt uplifted by the Mass for Christmas morning from Clifton cathedral. Much emphasis was given to the outcast and the dispossessed during the address … the Christmas story should not be a comforting message to those who would preserve the status quo! A slow emergence from the duvet’s lair, however, did not preclude my fatigued collapses at intervals during the day, so it became something of a priority to take little naps, the better to enjoy the day.

We were joined, for Christmas Dinner, by Beth and Mahmood whom we welcomed with an appetizer of Waitrose Vintage Champagne, 1996 … a beautifully balanced elaboration of P&C Heidseck. To accompany our traditional Christmas Dinner, we partook of a glass of ‘Andrew Garrett Coonawarra Reserve Cabernet, 2002’, a wonderful mouthwatering bramble concoction with a cinnamon tingle derived from the oak ageing.

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Our guests left us late afternoon and ma belle and myself slumped into a relaxed evening, with an early ascent of the wooden steps towards duvetdom. Although tired, despite my preceding periods of rest, sleep did not come too easily … bodily aches, pains and general discomforts tend to have a way of overwhelming the desire/ necessity for sleep.

Following a brief midnight ramble around the house, I lay on top of the bed watching my beloved sleep. This simple act gave such a warm glow, she is so precious and, I just lay stroking her hair and cheeks rapt in adoration and feelings of overwhelming protectiveness. Love is such an amazing thing!

This morning, we once more enjoyed a very relaxed start, au lit, to the day … as we became totally enraptured by ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ on BBC7. It’s so amazing just how much more vivid the pictures produced by a good radio production are, in comparison to televisual portrayals of the same or similar stories!

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I’ve just realized that I’ve made no mention of presents received, in fact we still have some of our main presents to open …. But it is a wonderful Christmas, here with my beloved.