Leah sent me this photo yesterday, and it really cracked me up.
I suppose this is something of an inside joke. The photo is a still from the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol, starring the incomparable Alastair Sim as Scrooge. Having just survived the visits of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and fearing that he has missed Christmas this year, Scrooge leans out the window to ask a passing boy what day it is. This movie is required yearly Christmas viewing in our house.
One also needs to know something about the situation in the UK, where until yesterday we had a three tier system of restrictions imposed to deal with the pandemic, with one being the least restrictive and three being the most restrictive. Yesterday, Boris Johnson declared that most of South East England was now in Tier 4, thus effectively putting a stop to Christmas plans for much of the country and throwing us all into chaos.
If you are in that intersection of people living in the UK, and those for whom A Christmas Carol is required viewing, than perhaps this also made you giggle. (And the similarity between Boris Johnson and Alastair Sim as Scrooge is also rich; just look at that expression and imagine Boris at a presser. It’s uncanny.)
Yesterday, Doug’s cousins organised a Cousin Zoom call. There were over 50 people on it (Doug’s family is super big). Most were in Western Canada, but we stretched all the way from here in the UK to Japan, and we spent a few lovely, laughter-filled hours catching up on everyone’s year. Maybe that will be become a new family tradition, and someday we will explain to the little ones “Well, it all started back in the year 2020.” And in that telling, there will have been 200 people on that first family Zoom Holiday call, and it would have lasted all night long.
I dare to say… Merry Christmas! (at least in the spirit)
This shall pass too
Merry Christmas, Judith!
God, I love this.
🙂
I tuned into the press conference yesterday and at the first sight of Boris looking his usual ridiculous self, and the first words I heard being something about ‘we’re the best at’ something or other, I tuned straight out again for my own mental health.
Your picture is an excellent summary. We spent one whole day in tier 3 before being dropped into the mythical tier 4. Fortunately we had already made the sensible decision for ourselves a week or so ago that we would be staying home for Christmas rather than travelling to my parents elsewhere, so it wasn’t too much of a direct blow, but still felt an overwhelming sense of frustration with the whole mishandled situation.
Hope you have a lovely Christmas regardless of whatever else happens xx
This doesn’t derail our plans, either. It has been clear for some time that we would not make it to Vancouver, nor would the girls make it back here, so we have long recognised that this will be our first Christmas apart. I am thinking of it as an adventure for the girls – a chance to create some of their own traditions – although kind of sad for all of us. For many people, and many businesses, however, the lack of consistency in policy has been devastating. This will be a year to remember. Happy holidays!
Boris and Alastair – never thought about it before, but now that you point it out…. Here in southern Ontario we’re probably going back into lockdown right after Christmas (unclear whether that means after, or on, Boxing Day – details tomorrow). Hospitals were hoping for pre-Christmas lockdown, as of now – we’ll see what happens. Thanks for this, wishing you the best Christmas you can have.
Many of the family members on that Zoom talk are on the front line in Canadian health care. I am happy for any measures that help to keep them, and us by extension, safe. Have a lovely Christmas, Beth, and stay safe and warm. Keep your knitting handy!
I have enjoyed your posts through 20 to 20 . A year to appreciate everything we have rather than everything we want. Your posts have been appreciated. Thank you Merry Christmas. We did get something we wanted a new president of the United States and we are thankful. Also some extra knitting time!
Thanks so much for commenting, Jill. This year has definitely changed my thinking on many things, and I consider myself extremely fortunate. A new president for Christmas! Yay! I couldn’t have asked Santa for anything better.
The Disney version reigns in our house (hub’s choice, not mine), but I do love this meme. We have hastily rearranged our Christmas plans, and have agreed a video call on Christmas morning during the present opening.
I am sorry that you had to rearrange your plans. I hope that you have a lovely Christmas in spite of it! We are also going to have a virtual Christmas – it will be interesting with an 8-hour time zone difference. Keep safe!
One good thing that I think has come out of this is the virtual meet ups. They won’t ever beat in-person meets but they are a good, sage compromise. Keep safe too!
I did get the joke, as my Mom watches quite a few different versions of A Christmas Carol every year 🙂 I’m so sorry for all the new restrictions in your area, but hopefully it will help the situation somewhat. The cousin Holiday Zoom call sounds just wonderful – as everyone is so spread out, maybe it will be the new tradition!
We have a new virus mutation circulating in this area, so it is important that we all try to self isolate as much as possible. I’m all for that. I’m just poking a little fun at Boris – not the best of managers. I hope you get some good, peaceful knitting time and have a lovely holiday!
Hello – health policy is not a reserved issue. “The UK” didn’t have a 3 tier system until the 19th: Scotland and Wales use levels not tiers and Scotland has had 4 levels since at least October. NI I think refers to them as restrictions.
Thank you. I should definitely have specified England and not the UK. Keep safe wherever you are!
And you. Your blog continues to be one of the nice things to turn to, so thank you for all your writing.
This did crack me up! Yes, that movie is required watching…