Retro Post #1 - I'm Dreaming Of A Wet Christmas

This is my Christmas Eve 2006 post. Yes, I'm aware that it's significantly past that date. But I've had most of this composed in my head since that time. That's how I work: always trying to catch up with the past, with no time for the present. Laurie Anderson said it best, in her song, "The Dream Before":

She said: What is history?
And he said: History is an angel
being blown backwards into the future
He said: History is a pile of debris
And the angel wants to go back and fix things
To repair the things that have been broken
But there is a storm blowing from Paradise
And the storm keeps blowing the angel
backwards into the future
And this storm, this storm
is called
Progress

Anyway, this is what I've been thinking about writing for the past month-plus:

Christmas in Australia is different than it is in the United States; or, at least, the northern part of the US. It's that different seasons thing. Being in the southern hemisphere, Australia is currently experiencing summer. And, as I'm in Queensland, that means it can be pretty hot. Fortunately, we've been having a cool wave for the past several days. (The heat would not really come until later in January, after Ann got back.) But we're still in the longest drought of recorded history, and Queensland needs to keep coming up with new, higher-numbered water restrictions. We're currently at Level 4, an all-new, never-before-used (I think) level. It's a total ban on hoses and sprinklers, with watering having to be done by buckets and only on odd days of the week and only during specific, short time intervals. I don't know the exact details, so I'm hoping that the Water Police (Drought Police?) don't grab me when I water Ann's two plants every couple of days or so. Anyway, they're expecting rain on Christmas Day, and I was amused at how similar and different that was to the typical wish for a "White Christmas."

The funny thing is that despite all the sun and heat and drought, Australia's view of Christmas is much the same as the United States' - or, more probably, Britain, as I believe that much of Australia's culture is British (at least in origin) and much of its pop culture is American. (A lot of Aussies are too proud/contentious to be happy about this, so I try not to press the point. ) Many of the images of Christmas are of snow and snowmen, Santa and reindeer. I'll probably always remember one early (first?) Christmas season I experienced in Sydney. I went into the Balgowlah Shops (a small mall) one afternoon. Santa was visiting, sitting in the usual throne-like chair and decked out in the full red-and-white winter garb. But the mall wasn't busy, so no one was visiting. There were just a few people walking by in shorts, thongs (Australian for "sandals, or flip-flops"), and sunnies ("sunglasses"). I imagine Santa was pretty hot, and perhaps a touch lonely.

So the environment doesn't exactly suggest "Christmas!" to my northern sensibilities. Not that it really matters. I'm not much of a Christmas guy. Somewhere around the time when I left college and had to start *really* being employed, Christmas started to wane for me. It started being a lot more work and a lot less fun. That, combined with my waning Christianity, doesn't leave much of the season for me to connect with. Fortunately, I'm a warm weather person, so the idea of relaxing in the sun (possibly on the beach) on Christmas Day works well for me. I like that I'm not shivering, wearing heavy clothing, or shovelling snow off the driveway!

If you would like to know more about how some Australians celebrate Christmas, I direct you to Melissa's entry on the "Gone Gaming" blog. Melissa is one of Melbourne's/Australia's pre-eminent gamers, a fine writer, and a very nice person. Her description of an Australian gamer's Christmas season can be found at http://boredgamegeeks.blogspot.com/2006/12/seasons-greetings.html