Thursday 17 November 2011

Shop later


Every year the same thing happened.
At the beginning of November she made up her mind that this time,
for once, she would get her Christmas shopping done early.
She went as far as writing a list - and there,
for several weeks, the matter rested.
At intervals she tried to pretend that
Christmas Day fell on the 5th of December,
or, alternatively, that all her friends lived in South Africa
and that she had to catch an early mail;
but it was no use.
The feeling of temporal urgency cannot be artificially produced,
any more than the feeling of financial distress.


And Mrs Miniver might well have added,
that while the sun shone warmly and chrysanthemums 
and geraniums still bloomed,
it was impossible to feel in the least bit Christmassy.
Conditioned as we are to expect sparkly chilled air
and a real possibility of snow,
feelings of meteorological appropriateness to the season
are vital for the accomplishment of early Christmas shopping.

7 comments:

  1. But your Christmas present to me is already safely purchased and wrapped, yes?

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  2. What an interesting composition!! The couch is in focus but the interest is elsewhere...what is producing that shadow? what would those flowers look like if they were sharply focused? what would it be like to be looking out to where the sun is?
    Great photograph, as usual. Thanks.

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  3. Couldn't have put it any better myself...

    Winter needs to hurry up!

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  4. Ah, Mrs. Miniver. That's me you know! Well, it's my pen name, at least. For our family newsletter. Circulation: 5.

    The forecast says possible snow for us on Saturday. Does that mean I should go shopping?

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  5. I really can't begin to think about Christmas until December, ever! From June I stock pile home made gifts with no particular idea of who they're for, and that's all I do until it's almost too late. I'm hopeless, I know. But that gorgeous photograph looks like late evening in summer, no wonder others are sharing my normal festive latitude. Winter, where are you?

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  6. It is rather disturbing to have this type of weather so late in the year, most odd.

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  7. It is cold enough for Christmas shopping over here :)

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