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Post by Moose on Dec 4, 2021 2:19:55 GMT
It's cold and dark and I want to be warm and in the light
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Post by JoeP on Dec 4, 2021 9:17:17 GMT
Could be worse ... you could be in Finland ...
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Post by tangent on Dec 4, 2021 12:13:05 GMT
We're only 3 minutes away from the darkest evening (earliest sunset) today. By the end of December it will be noticeably lighter in late afternoon. Another reason to have Christmas.
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Post by JoeP on Dec 4, 2021 15:31:37 GMT
Are you suggesting that without Christmas this might not happen ...
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Post by tangent on Dec 4, 2021 17:22:14 GMT
Well, that's why ancient cultures held ceremonies around this time of year. I think Stone Henge was built for a slightly different purpose but it was connected to the sun's disappearance.
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Post by Moose on Dec 5, 2021 0:19:53 GMT
Makes sense. Christmas at least is something to look forward to at this time of year.
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Post by Mari on Dec 6, 2021 19:26:57 GMT
These last two years I've seen noticeably more Christmas lighting and trees outside and noticeably earlier in the year as well. I guess with corona people feel a need to brighten things up.
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Post by JoeP on Dec 6, 2021 21:57:31 GMT
Mari!
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Post by Moose on Dec 12, 2021 2:50:08 GMT
Yes, Mari!
We never put outside decorations up but we have some nice lights and a tree inside
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Post by JoeP on Dec 12, 2021 10:19:33 GMT
I have a tree. A small plastic one but a Christmas tree nevertheless.
And a paper chain of Moomin characters in the snow! - which my sister saw and thought I should have.
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Post by Kye on Dec 12, 2021 11:30:21 GMT
I don't have a tree this year since the whole family is trotting over to Rimouski to spend Christmas in the country. I like Christmas trees, but it's a huge bother for just 1 person so I'm glad not to have one myself. I'll be happy to enjoy Laurence's when I get there.
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Post by Moose on Dec 12, 2021 23:04:29 GMT
i used to do one when it was just me but I was lazy about taking it down. April was my record
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Post by kingedmund on Dec 14, 2021 0:53:52 GMT
This year not doing decorating.
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 14, 2021 23:19:53 GMT
Kudos to those who have abandoned butchering a tree for baby Jesus and have embraced either faux trees, or bough wreathes, or nothing at all.
I grew up with the tree in the house routine and, although I liked the conifer smell indoors, the whole idea of creating a huge fire hazard in the house during the holidays, and killing a tree just for a few weeks of 'decoration' struck me as fucking wasteful, particularly in a time when thousands were calling for trees to NOT be cut down in order to try to save our environment. Trees reduce carbon in the atmosphere and create oxygen during photosynthesis; they cannot do that when they are cut down. Indeed cut trees inevitably add to the problem when they are burned. Then, I worked five years as a refuse hauler and I saw what happened with all those butchered trees...thrown out on the streets by all too many, for somebody else to take responsibility for their proper disposal. That finally disgusted and alienated me about the entire perverse tradition of butchering trees for a couple of weeks of insanity. I will never again say anything positive about cutting down trees to be displayed indoors for the holiday. Never.
It's not even a Christian tradition. It's another stolen tradition from the pagans of northern Europe. The Yule tree. It has nothing to do with Christ or Jesus.
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Post by Moose on Dec 14, 2021 23:46:36 GMT
We have an artificial one . Not had a real one in years .
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Post by Kye on Dec 15, 2021 1:28:56 GMT
Christmas trees are grown to be cut down. If there wasn't a market for them, they wouldn't be planted
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 15, 2021 2:36:47 GMT
Christmas trees are grown to be cut down. If there wasn't a market for them, they wouldn't be planted Yes. Of this I am well aware. That does not prevent it from being perverse. The 'market' developed because enough people would pay good money for someone to grow and cut them. That sounds really spiritual.
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Post by Kye on Dec 15, 2021 2:52:38 GMT
It's not at all spiritual. As you point out, it's a completely secular phenomenon --which is why I'm not that sad about not having a tree this year. I do, however, have a creche.
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Post by kingedmund on Dec 15, 2021 23:01:20 GMT
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Post by ceptimus on Dec 18, 2021 16:37:18 GMT
I've not put up any decorations, including trees, for the last few years. Only 'decoration' has been the Christmas cards sent to me. Those cards have been steadily declining in number, from hundreds a few years ago when they were sent by all friends, relatives and work colleagues, to just tens now as they're gradually going out of fashion; I've not sent any cards the other way for several years, which no doubt has also reduced the number I receive in return. I wouldn't mind if I didn't receive any cards; they seem like another waste of money and resources to me.
I understand that children enjoy the excitement of decorating their houses with trees and other things for Christmas; but I'm a little surprised at the number of adult-only households that still engage in it, with all the hassle, time, and money that it entails.
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Post by Mari on Dec 19, 2021 8:27:55 GMT
I'm not sure how come you think putting up decorations takes a lot of time and money. I inherited my decorations from several sources and apart from the occasional new lights it doesn't cost me a thing. Timewise it takes me an hour or 2 to put everything up, so not that long IMO. I enjoy the whole shebang: it makes the world look a bit brighter. That said the whole thing has got to go by the 30th because by then I'm done with having my living space reduced by trees, Joseph and Maria etc and the wreath that pokes in your eye when trying to put your key in the door at night.
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Post by tangent on Dec 19, 2021 17:32:32 GMT
Last year, we dug up the Christmas tree from the garden, chopped off most of large roots and repotted it. That took longer than decorating it.
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Post by ceptimus on Dec 19, 2021 17:35:06 GMT
An hour or two to put them up, and maybe a similar amount of time to put them away again? If you enjoy it then it's time well spent; if, like me, you don't, then it becomes a dispiriting chore. And you've admitted that the hassle factor affects you too - with the reduced living space and the eye-poking hazards.
I'm fine with others putting up their own decorations, and I enjoy looking at quality public displays, providing they're not installed too soon or left up for too long.
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 19, 2021 17:47:55 GMT
It's not at all spiritual. As you point out, it's a completely secular phenomenon --which is why I'm not that sad about not having a tree this year. I do, however, have a creche. Completely secular? I don't think so. When saying 'Happy Holidays' becomes a salient political issue for one set of self-described 'Christian' believers, who then attempt to enforce their worldview on everybody else, then it is not a 'completely secular phenomenon'. And creches? Displaying one, in one's home or in public, is a veritable declaration of polemic religiousity. The very ambiguity of the present nature of the holiday is part and parcel of its perversity. It is a religious observation which its believers feel necessary to impose on anybody who does not agree, nor appreciate. Those believers want to make their belief into a continuing inquisition against those who do not hold those same beliefs. So, I disagree with your attempt to declare it 'a completely secular phenomenon'. Rather, it is a religious observance which, over time, has accrued a LOT of perverse secular trappings which the participants think are 'required' to 'properly observe' the event.
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 19, 2021 17:49:09 GMT
Last year, we dug up the Christmas tree from the garden, chopped off most of large roots and repotted it. That took longer than decorating it. Why dig it up? Why not decorate it in situ?
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Post by Kye on Dec 19, 2021 18:14:14 GMT
So, I disagree with your attempt to declare it 'a completely secular phenomenon'. Rather, it is a religious observance which, over time, has accrued a LOT of perverse secular trappings which the participants think are 'required' to 'properly observe' the event. I am not an American, so your point of view does not reflect either my beliefs nor my actions. I disagree with your analyse of my post.
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Post by tangent on Dec 19, 2021 21:17:22 GMT
Why dig it up? Why not decorate it in situ? It was in a corner of the garden where we barely saw it, and would not be seen after 4pm because we had no lights that could be used outside. Otherwise, a fair idea.
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 19, 2021 22:25:40 GMT
Why dig it up? Why not decorate it in situ? It was in a corner of the garden where we barely saw it, and would not be seen after 4pm because we had no lights that could be used outside. Otherwise, a fair idea. Heh...My father planted a blue spruce in the front yard of my childhood home. He ran an extension cord out a window and plugged in lights. Warning: Local misfits will thieve light bulbs and any ornaments. Plant away from the public thoroughfare to discourage this petty pilfering.
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