Christmas Day

Christmas morning. It's mild. The weather forecast promises a high of 7 degrees and a low of 5.

As we walk up the hill the village is already awake. Curtains are open, kitchen lights are glowing and trees are lit and sparkling . BBC Radio 4 is playing ' O come all ye faithful' while Radio 3 has a performance of The Messiah from Leeds. The sound of a comingled British Christmas is already carrying towards us before we reach the doocot. Exasperated mothers wave from behind steamed up windows and shout out 'Happy Christmas '.  "You can't open your presents until your grandparents arrive" being said, repeatedly, to over excited four year olds. The village has a lot of toddlers and they're all discovering that instant gratification isn't a thing. The farmers eldest son stops to let us know ' I'm off to pick up my granny in Falkirk'. He's proudly driving his fathers freshly washed Land Rover Defender. We'd always thought it was mud coloured but it turns out to be silver. Three young fathers stop for a quick blether.  Faced with domestic chaos they've opted  to take the dog for a walk. This gives them time to reflect on whether finishing off that bottle of brandy with their father in law after last nights dinner was a good thing.... or not.

The golf hotels are busy. Three nights , two spa treatments and two dinners for £850 per person draw folks from all over. Faces peer at us from heavily garlanded breakfast rooms. Car parks are brimming with Jaguars and Mercedes. People can play the Old Course for free today so there's a line of hopefuls dragging trolleys and wearing Santa hats down by the starters hut. Give it an hour or so and the line will turn into a melee. This OTT song is being played over the tannoy. Someone at the golf club inclines to the theatrical :https://youtu.be/UnYOzRMrxaE  The Americans in the queue hum along and laughingly repeat the 'Melchior spoke' part.

Down by the university things are quieter. There's not a soul to be seen. Golfers tend not to wander far from the first tee. In fact many of them have no idea there's an old town just yards away. Strip away the tarmac and on a morning like this you can imagine the  wide processional route to the medieval cathedral as it was 600 years ago. Perhaps it's only amid the quiet of Christmas you can see things as they are ? 

We are left to ponder a poster in the lobby of the International Relations Department.

The library, which a few days ago was packed solid with exam cramming teenagers is now closed. The the cleaners have left some  of the lights on. The architecture with its exposed pipes and ducting  looks very techno-industrial.

And so a Merry Christmas to one and all from the inhabitants of The last Wee House before Denmark. May you find comfort in the company of those you love,  warmth in the memory of those who've gone before and confidence in the capacity of human beings to tend towards kindness. 

Soon the turkey will be in the oven and the day will start to get busy. The Beaune has been decanted and the pudding is already steaming slowly away on the AGA. Champagne will be sipped as the cooking progresses.

Christmas Day music. ' A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices '. The ultimate classic ? Understated good taste :https://youtu.be/e5c4370E2aQ?list=RDe5c4370E2aQ

And a Christmas Day poem :https://carol-egan.com/2025/12/christmas-poem-by-mary-oliver/

Now this is interesting :https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/12/04/why-there-are-only-two-escalators-in-all-of-wyoming/

There is also a bit about escalators in here :https://anchovyhouse.substack.com/p/sacred-infrastructure