Post Holiday Trauma

There really ought to be a name for this seasonal syndrome other than the winter blues - it's really more of an over-indulgence post holiday trauma in which the entire world as we know it appears to be buried under multitudinous layers of crumpled gift wrap, discarded candy wrappers, random hats, scarves, gloves, odd socks, unfamiliar shoes of still visiting relatives, dog, cats, extra kids (five extra this afternoon in this house - all boys, of course), half eaten ham sandwiches, an array of empty mugs of what appeared to have been hot chocolate, several open packets of those really weird beer and cheddar chips even the hungriest teen has turned his nose up at.....

A trip to the city yesterday was a breath of splendidly fresh, albeit trademark San Francisco foggy, soggy air. Riding in the back seat of a cab from downtown to catch a matinee performance of Cirque Du Soleil's kaleidoscopic, frenetic, ultimately fabulous Kooza, post holiday domestic chaos induced doldrums were startlingly halted by hearing a BBC report on the apparent Al Qaida slaying of Pakistan's brave and extraordinarily bold Benazir Bhutto.

Who did not see that coming? According to the immigrant taxi driver, barely any of his passengers had made so much as a comment on this major political catastrophe, not to mention the tragedy of losing such a significant global leader as Bhutto  should have surely become.

As hundreds of thousands of protesters mobbed Bhutto's funeral, the vast majority of San Franciscans seemingly went about their business returning oversized Christmas presents to Barney's, booking into five star hotels for a winter mini break, perhaps even a show and a decadent dinner of Californian cuisine and maybe a Napa Valley cabernet to keep up those holiday spirits...

We truly are in cuckoo land half of the time. Compared to the shocking and precarious social and political conditions currently faced by so many in the middle east. Shook myself back into reality real fast and relished the prospect of returning home to tackle those six loads of washing and drying, a toppling stack of dirty dishpans, dog begging to be walked, desk full of paperwork pushed aside for holiday celebrations. Etc, etc. Lucky me. Lucky us. All that liberty to indulge and later pay the very minor consequences.

Comments

[Suzanne]

I thought it odd too that noone seemed to care too much. If it had been an American president the world would have stopped. Nary a blip on the television screen. Strange, really. Just goes to show how egocentric we really are here in the old US of A.

[Karen]

Yesterday's local and world news was distrubing so close to the holidays! I was a delighted Mom when my oldest son came home with a ton of laundry to do. A chore so dreaded, but I was just thankful that I had him home for a bit and I could provide the mom service of doing it. So many of our local sons and daughters are not bringing their laundry home this year!
Have a wonderful New Year and give those sons of yours a hug for me!

[Frances]

Will do, Karen! And as I was up to my shoulders in holiday week laundry this morning, I took a minute's pause to remind myself how much I will miss those endless piles of boxers and jeans and T's in a few years time! Good to hear how much it means to have your grown up kids back in the fold for a few days. Happy New Year to all in the N/P clan!