Tis' the Season

“Let’s be naughty and save Santa the trip.” – Gary Allen

Okay, so I know that it isn’t Christmas, let alone close enough to say that it is even halfway through the year to say Christmas in July. But if you’re anything like me, you love the Christmas holiday season.

Being lucky enough to live in Australia, Christmas is usually hot and means going over to an aunt’s or uncle’s house, gathering up other family members and having a big lunch that goes into the night. Not to mention the giving and receiving of presents that comes with a big family.

While I do love the Christmases that I have spent here in Australia all my life, I do get wistful when I see the pictures of White Christmases, especially in America. It is an impossible request to the weather of Australia, but I can always dream.

Research on Christmas led me to these interesting facts about Christmas:

1.     Americans eat 10 million turkeys over the Christmas period. (And you wonder how they weren’t the first country to contract swine flu...)

Do you like to 'gobble, gobble' too?

2.   During the Xmas buying period, Visa cards are used an average of 5340 times per minute, just in the United States. Financial crisis anyone?

3.   Originally, candy canes were straight sticks of candy. This changed when the Master of the Choir at Cologne Cathedral decided to bend the ends to look like a shepherd’s stick. He then passed them out to children to keep them quiet during a service. This was also helpful as people were able to hang the candy canes on the tree. Smart man if I ever heard one.

I also forgot to mention, an extra perk for Christmas in Australia are the Boxing Day sales. Now that’s what I call fun! Except for all the people. And the rush. And the people. Yeah, it’s fun.

“Christmas is the Disneyfication of Christianity.” – Don Cupitt