I have a love/hate relationship with the month December. I love the superficial jolliness, and everything being  festively decorated. I love all the special foods you suddenly can buy everywhere, and stuff your face with way too much sugar. I love to watch people buzzing like bees  through the streets, collecting their finest nectar, and as many as possible in the shortest amount of time. Bags filled with brightly wrapped presents, which I always make it a game in guessing what’s in it. Store windows treating the potential customer’s eye, with the most beautiful cloths and shoes and other products  you really want to have, but not really need. And off course the smell of Christmas trees  you can buy on every corner of the street.

 

 

But what I absolutely hate about December, is that it’s the time of year, bills that have piled up, are coming to bite you in the ass, making your bank account  seem like a dried well. It is taking all of your selfcontrol not to be seduced to stray from your carefully chosen grocery list, and buying all kinds of extras, that again, are biting you in the ass at the end of the month, if you did. I hate the indoctrination of the commercial world that you need to be surrounded by the people you love. And that it’s kind of a no-no of acting the way you did the rest of the year, but being a perfect representation of a holy person. Not to mention all the emotion triggering advertisements,  to donate your money so you can buy yourself a place in heaven.

I can imagine why the death rate of people is rising when come December. And lonely, depressed people are becoming even more so, because everywhere they look, they are being confronted with something they don’t have, but feel they need to, because you’re supposed to. And being poisoned with the idea  that everyone else around you is carelessly happy, having a jolly good time with family and friends.

But I am a sucker like most people, so I like the holiday season more than I despise it. So I was really enjoying my time at the Christmas fair yesterday, shuffling my feet  between the compressed crowd, hoping to get a glance at the Christmas booths selling all kinds of Christmassy stuff, and smell the sweet warmth of spices of the mulled wine that is offered on every second booth on a row. Hearing the beautiful tunes of Christmas carols, and watching the people dressed in Charles Dickens styled clothes. The smell of pinewood, real and artificial, tickles  my seasonal mood, and I let myself feel everything you’re supposed to during this time of year. I had a lovely afternoon together with Ramon, and even though we have to carefully weigh up the need of every purchase we make this month, I could buy something totally useless  today,  but oh so fun.

 

 

Because we couldn’t believe our eyes  when we saw the price tag on a frame with 12 separate windows and a bag of plaster powder added, to make an imprint of your puppy’s paw. When we celebrated Kuzco’s first birthday, we got something similar from my niece and her wife. We made an imprint in the plaster of Kuzco’s paw, to keep as a lovely keepsake. So it was only logical that we should buy this……

Off course….

 

 

We asked the seller if the price was right. One Euro for all that!?

Well….

That’s a bargain we couldn’t refuse. So now the whole commercial Christmas spirit was made complete. I carried a bag with cheerful colored wrappings, holding something we absolutely don’t need, but really wanted to have.

While walking past the rest of the Christmas booths, we were happily chattering about our new puppy that will be born soon, and all the photo’s we’ll be making to maybe fill the frame with, and discussing about what to name the puppy when it’s a boy or a girl. This was really the finishing touch of a wonderful day, and I even think I will decorate the house with stuff we have lying around, even though I didn’t feel like decorating at all. I will keep the frame in its brightly colored wrapping, so it truly will begin to look a lot like Christmas…..