Day 65: Most of us experience some degree of nostalgia at this time of year, and while a part of that may direct our thoughts back to childhood holidays, another invites us to step into a time machine to travel to another era. Where does your TARDIS take you? Mine carries me into Dickens' time and is peopled with carollers clad in bustles and tophats, bundled against the cold in the thick woolens of the day, strolling along the gas-lit streets of old London. The Grinch, the Elf on a Shelf, the Peanuts gang can't be found in my nostalgic vision of Christmas, and Santa has an entirely different character than his modern counterpart who lavishes gifts on children both naughty and nice, never leaving lumps of coal or bundles of sticks in the stockings of those who didn't mind their parents. The charity of the time was personal: helping a disadvantaged neighbour, giving food and clothing to those you knew were in need, not leaving them to fight through the bureaucracy of agencies and entitlement programs. Peoples' lives were not as long then, no, but they were richer in human connection, in core humanity than in our present disconnected society. These are the images I see in my nostalgia, admittedly a romanticized version of the time, but not of the message which permeated it: to be kind and respectful to one another throughout the year.
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