It has not been a good week for the planet and I was doubtful the Dumfries Climate Kitchen could raise my spirits in the wake of what has just happened in the USA, where Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General has been under suspicion of sex trafficking, his nominee for Health Secretary, is a vaccine sceptic and, amongst those who have elected him, support for fracking and drilling is  a badge of honour. 

I made my way up Bank Street from the river and began to thread a path through the  festive gathering in front of the Midsteeple. Those present had come to witness the switching on of the town’s Christmas lights. Milling around me were moody teenagers and families with young and excited children. I could feel the great Christmas juggernaut  cranking into life. A  song I know well played on the PA:

It’s comin’ on Christmas

They’re cuttin’ down trees

They’re puttin’ up reindeer

And singin’ songs of joy and peace  

For me, in mid November, Christmas is something I’d prefer not even to be thinking about, but I could see those around me were happily embracing the spirit of the event. And as it turned out, on reaching the far side of the concourse and entering the building of The Stove Network and Cafe, I found the Climate Kitchen offering their own Xmas vision. Set out on two floors of the building was a Climate Conscious Christmas Market. This offered a gentle challenge to the unrestrained consumer blowout which has come to define the close of our year. 

The Climate Kitchen certainly wasn’t taking its lead from Just Stop Oil, which might incline more towards a Just Stop Christmas approach to the matter. I had been sent a link earlier in the day to a petition initiated by Just Stop Oil, inviting the Government to run a public information campaign on the climate crisis. That seems a modest request. I signed it. Maybe you would like to think about signing too? I’ll put the link in the endnotes.

The Market featured, amongst other things, an opportunity to  rent-a-Christmas tree, the idea being that you return your tree when the season is over. All being well, it will live to adorn further Christmases until it is just too big to fit any available domestic space. At that  point it will be set free to grow to maturity. 

The market also featured an eye-catching workshop offering instruction in the art of Japanese scarf-wrapping for gifts. Once the gifts are unwrapped, the scarves are carefully folded away for the next time. 

The focus of the other stalls was more conventionally commercial, offering artisanal gifts from natural materials, but I will also mention the workshop which invited us to reflect on how Christmas has changed over the years.  

My earliest memories of the season come from the late 1950s through the 1960s, growing up in Newry, Co.Down. I would rise on Christmas morning, excited to receive a few trinkets, brought to me by a Santa Claus in whom, from an early age, I did not believe. There was rarely snow on the ground other than in the Christmas cards, but frost was a commonplace.  I went with my parents and my two elder brothers to St. Patrick’s on the hill. We drove  past little houses each, it seemed, with a single illuminated star hanging in a front window. The church service we attended, with its carols and readings from the Gospels, was a part of the ritual of the day which I sat through, impatient for it to be done.  We returned home to eat our turkey, roast potatoes and sprouts, followed by Christmas pudding. Presents were given out in the afternoon. I never received the binoculars that I always said I wanted. In the evening there was rich fruit cake, with a generous layer of marzipan and icing, followed by Morecambe and Wise on the black and white TV. I loved it all. 

I don’t go to church anymore or believe in the Christmas story, other than as some kind of allegory. I still enjoy Christmas. There’s just too much of it for me. If I had my way, there would be no Christmas music or decorations or lights before mid-December. But I know that ain’t gonna happen and I’ll just have to make the best of what is on offer and hope I never tire of listening to A Fairy Tale of New York.  

Eleanor Farjeon captures something of what has been eclipsed by the jamboree of commerce which Christmas has become. I don’t think religious belief is really necessary to be touched by her message.

Christmas Carol

God bless your house this Holy night,

   And all within it:

God bless the candle that you light,

  To midnight’s minute;

The board at which you break your bread,

  The cup you drink of:

And as you raise it, the unsaid

   Name you think of:

The warming fire, the bed of rest,

   The ringing laughter:

These things and all things else be blest

   From floor to rafter

This Holy night, from dark to light,

   Even more than other:

And if you have no house to-night,

   God bless you brother.

Endnotes

Petition  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700189 

The Climate Kitchen  https://climatekitchen.co.uk/ 

The Stove Network and Cafe  https://thestove.org/ 

The Climate Conscious Christmas Market

• Christmas Tree Rental https://www.kilnford.co.uk/kilnford-plants/rent-your-christmas-tree-at-kilnford-2023/ 
• Zero Waste Christmas Cake Kit from Lean Bean https://www.leanbeancafe.com/products/zero-waste-christmas-cake-kit 
• Beauty from nature from the Kitchen Witch,  https://www.thekitchenwitchsoaps.com/ 
• Local Organic Christmas Dinner Delivery, from Galloway Food Hub https://gallowayfoodhub.org.uk/