Daily Diversions (Web Log)

David's Mental Meanderings
15th December 2002

December in Britain is bloody miserable. As we venture deeper and deeper into the darkness that is the shortest day of the year, it is wet and cold. In the States, you may not realise how fleeting the daylight is here. When compared to Texas, the span between sunrise and sunset is shorter by 2.5 hours. Today the sun was above the horizon for 7.75 hours, with dusk setting in at about 3:30. We didn't actually see it through the thick grey blanket of cloud, but meteorologists assure us that it was there. On Thursday, we will arrive in south Texas, where it will be partly sunny and 70°F.

The Holfords have spent the month of December in the grip of colds. This was a bit of a shock to Aidan, who has not experienced a bit of sickness in his first ten months. This time of year it is especially important to keep the germs at bay. Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

I've probably mentioned this before, but the British seem to have a thing about not rinsing dishes. This is such a problem that even one of their esteemed newspapers, the Times, ran a major article on the importance of rinsing dishes and the health risks of not doing so.

One of the few things that Mrs Holford and I row about is my insistence on rinsing the dishes. Apparently it costs an extra 9 pence or something in electricity for me to do this. Even if I wait until the dead of night, the Mrs can awaken out of a deep sleep to hear a trickle of water running, get out of bed, go to the kitchen, and give me a calculation of exactly how much water I am using and the drain this is placing on our family budget and how we will end up in total poverty, living on the streets as a result. But I think I have finally gotten my head around the British logic. Rinsed dishes cost 9 pence, but health care is free. It is cheaper to be ill.

Another irritation about December in Britain is Christmas. Mrs Holford and I were shopping yesterday and both noticed that in all the aisles of Christmas decorations and paraphernalia, there wasn't a single item that reflected the actual meaning of the celebration the Eastern Church refers to as the Holy Nativity According to the Flesh of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. (As Orthodox, we like to name things so as to put any lurking heretics on notice - in this case, the Arians.)

Why do the heathens bother to observe Christmas? I don't get it. If they are going to be secularist, it seems to make much more sense to put more emphasis on New Year. This is the civil beginning to the civil calendar. And that way they could buy New Year's presents in the last minute rush of December 26-31, when everything is on sale.

In the States, you can't go into Target or Wal-Mart or any other shop, without seeing "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" or "Wise Men Still Seek Him". You expect to hear real Christmas carols, along with the Santa-oriented nonsense (bearing no resemblance to the real St Nicholas) and the general "let pretend that winter is actually a nice time of year" silliness. The only groups opposed to mentioning the namesake of the holiday are various governmental bodies.

This opposition isn't always effective, as they have found out in Lafayette, Indiana. County commissioners decided in 1999 that Nativity scenes would no longer be allowed on the consecrated grounds of the court house. Jack Ruckel responded by building a version on the bed of his pickup. He parks it in front of the building every evening in the run up to Christmas.

It's not that the civil government in the UK have avoided trying to spoil the festivities. In Edinburgh, parents are not allowed to film Nativity plays. This is because theoretically paedophiles could get a hold of it and put it on the Internet. I kid you not.

Officials have also stated that allowing a parent to videotape a performance in which children other than their own are included violates the Human Rights Act and the Data Protection Act. Strictly speaking, the ban isn't absolute. As the BBC explains,

Any Edinburgh parent wanting to record their children in nativity plays and pantomimes must seek the permission of every child involved. Staff at all 156 council-run schools and nurseries have been told that if one parent refuses to fill in a consent form, then other parents will not be allowed to film events.

A council spokeswoman said the measure was a "precaution," explaining further that "[Local] Authorities have to recognise the risk of paedophiles. There has not been a rise in paedophile cases in the city to our knowledge. However we have heard of cases in Scotland and England where paedophiles are found with video footage taken at school plays."

All I can say is that it's a good thing they don't know how old Mary really was. They'd probably try to ban Christmas altogether.