It is perhaps quite appropriate that the Christmas holiday falls a scant four days after the shortest day of the year.
As the days grow ever shorter as the winter solstice approaches, people tend to get more down in the dumps, as they are unable to get the sunlight they need to feel cheery.
Plus, at the latitude Barrhead finds itself at, the midday sun is nowhere near as high as it would be in the middle of summer.
We need a shining beacon of happiness in our dark winters. We need something to look forward to that can help get us through those days when we would love nothing better than to stay curled up in a ball in our nice, warm beds.
Christmas, with its gathering of friends and family and myriad presents for good little boys and girls, is that something.
We come and gather from all over the country.
Children who have long since left home and are now in far-flung cities and towns come home to dine with their parents once more.
Friends who maybe have not seen each other in months, if not years, come together to recount their past times together and share laughs that never get old.
And fresh-faced children, still young on this Earth, marvel at the magic a bearded fat man brings to their lives every year.
But most of all, the Christmas season gives the perfect excuse to get out of the house and make our way to area schools to take in the all the Christmas concerts and pageants our young people spend hours working to put together.
Already this year, the students at Barrhead Composite High School, Dunstable School, Fort Assiniboine School and Barrhead Elementary’s French Immersion program have performed their concerts and pageants for their parents and neighbours.
And each performance was different and unique, representing the best that those schools have to offer.
Coming up this week will be the kids at Neerlandia Public Christian School, the Covenant Canadian Reformed School and the English component of Barrhead Elementary. If what the previous schools did is any indication, those in the audience at the upcoming concerts are in for a treat.
However, we mustn’t forget the Hercules performances put on by BCHS’s drama students. Up against the Christmas season, they put on a performance described as “smashing,” “amazing” and “funny” by those who saw its limited run.
So, while the sun’s rays disappear sooner and sooner each day, fear not. The warmth nature fails to provide in these cold winter months is more than made up for in our schools and around our dining room tables.
Embrace the season and what it has to offer. And remember, when summer hits, we’ll all be begging for winter’s icy grip to relieve summer’s oppressive heat.
