Monday 22nd December - Winter

Wheeee! Downhill all the way now, my friends!  Almost at Christmas Eve and most jobs have been done, bar a little wrapping of presents and making of last minute yummy things.  On the whole now though, I have a bit more time and wiggle-room for sofa-lounging and bouts of snoozing and accidental drinking of cherry brandy.  Before I do all that, I ought to do today's post...

Winter Enrico Fanfani

Damnit!  I haven't got a bundle sticks!  There is always something you forget, like stuffing or frozen peas or a bundle of sticks.  How am I meant to do all the stick-related bits of Christmas, like poking snoring relatives or changing the channel on the telly when we lose the remote?  Okay then, after I've been to the dentist (thanks Santa, you got my letter...), been to the supermarket to purchase food (saints preserve us! I may not survive!) and bought some black embroidery floss to give the Baby Jesus some eyes (Rock 'n' Roll!) then I will go and get some sticks.  They do seem to be quite integral...

Winter James Godsell Middleton

Now look, if it is cold enough that you need winter fuel, I think you ought to be covering up your boobs because Santa won't be giving you any extra presents for flashing him as he flies overhead, and the only thing you'll get is pneumonia.  Maybe the picture should be called 'We're so poor, we can't even afford modesty...' The girl in Fanfani picture is nicely wrapped up against the Italian winter, but Middleton's lass looks a bit like she's hunting for more than sticks.  Nothing says 'Hello Boys!' like a red cape...

Winter Alfred George Webster

Well, this might be my favourite as we have both a fetching red cape and a sense of decency.  I love the bulk of colour in this picture, the white, the deep blue of the night sky and the endless red swirl of her cape.  It tells of a sense of pilgrimage, a challenge, the warmth and vibrancy of the human spirit in the deepest, darkest winter months.  This woman embodies the Winter Solstice in many ways, being a bright warmth in the sparest of landscapes and the coldest of nights.  She is both Winter, the personification of a season, and also existing within it.  Although undoubtedly cold up here in the Northern Hemisphere, winter snow could be seen as a cloak wrapped around the ground to keep it safe until spring.  Winter as the protectress of the flowers is unusual but possible to see in this wrapped-up young woman. She freezes and she engulfs, she preserves and she tucks-up to sleep until the sunshine returns to us.  What a lovely thought for a cold, wintery day.

Today's present suggestion is a good calendar.  Have you bought yours for next year yet?  We always leave it late so we can get a nice one cheaper, and there are always lovely Pre-Raphaelite-y ones around.  I was particularly struck with this one...

January is Holman Hunt's The Scapegoat.  My Goodness, can you imagine waking up to that on New Year's Day?  Lawks, that's a test of courage for the year ahead.  Happy New Year, here's a doomed goat.  If you can make it through four weeks of that dead-eyed bleating, the next 11 months will seem like a picnic.

See you tomorrow for the penultimate Blogvent post...