Tis the Season to Be Spending by Ruth Leigh

Tis the Season to be Spending...

by Ruth Leigh

Back in October, I received an email from a wellknown homeware shop. Whoever does their marketing and content writing is very, very good at it. By dint of some enthusiastic clicking (yes, of course I’d like to shop sustainable Christmas) I found myself gazing at a list of items which puzzled me somewhat. Who, for example, purchases something calling itself a Wicker Tree Skirt (also available in grey, wicker, red velvet and bafflingly, ivory faux fur?) Why would I deck my tree with wood effect stag’s heads or a 10cm hanging hedgehog decoration? By the time I got to the standing fox with telescopic legs, the shapes and colours were starting to strobe before my eyes. I trawled through all the items on sale. They were all very pretty, but what you might call, “the reason we have Christmas in the first place” wasn’t very well represented. I could “shop Crafted Christmas” or go back to my Essex roots with “Sparkle and Shine,” or come over all on-trend with “Scandi Christmas” (minus the snowdrifts and hygge, presumably). It’s a road well-trodden, and don’t worry, this isn’t going to be yet another of those pieces bemoaning the over-commercialisation of Christmas. We all get that. No one is forcing me to give in to the siren song of the retailers cashing in on the Christmas rush. Last year, cautiously hoping that the restrictions of lockdown might be drawing to a close, like many others we celebrated Christmas with the extended family. We haven’t brought our kids up to expect piles and piles of presents and they are refreshingly non-materialistic. I asked the eldest (then 18) what he’d like. “I don’t need anything, Mum. Maybe just some clothes. And some more Lynx Africa. If that’s OK.”

It occurred to me that buying something which would help people in dire need might be the way forward. I’ve gone through years of panic buying last minute “just because” gifts because I was worried about not having enough parcels on the day. I gave that up in my thirties when I realised that it wasn’t all about the stuff. As a freelance writer, I get to interview some truly inspirational people and last year I spoke to an amazing chap who works for Mission Without Borders, a charity which helps the very poorest people in Eastern Europe. What he told me about what’s going on our doorstep horrified me. This was before the current war in Ukraine really got going, but already, it featured as one of the six poorest countries in Europe. I bought vouchers for all my godchildren and my own three, and I asked anyone who gives me a present to donate to the charity. Reading stories of children huddled in freezing houses nursing their sick mother and wondering where their next meal is coming from broke my heart. The only ray of light for them comes when a local representative of the charity comes trudging through the snow with a bag of food for them. Everyone got it. No one said they’d rather have had a new phone or the latest gadget. We had stockings and turkey and Carols from Kings’ and parcels and the Queen’s Speech. But we also had the knowledge that we’d made a difference to some people we’d never meet. Wicker Tree Skirt? You’re all right, thanks. Standing fox with telescopic legs? I’m good. I’m going to make this Yuletide season truly merry with my focus firmly away from what the big corporates want me to buy. Merry Christmas!

Ruth is a novelist and freelance writer, the author of “The Diary of Isabella M Smugge”, “The Trials of Isabella M Smugge” and “The Continued Times of Isabella M Smugge”. She writes for a number of businesses and charities and blogs at ruthleighwrites.co.uk. She has abnormally narrow sinuses and a morbid fear of raw tomatoes, but has decided not to let this get in the way of a meaningful life. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter at ruthleighwrites and at her website, www.ruthleighwrites.co.uk.

Word Find

By Adrian Czarnecki

Though I love dreaming up and putting together my Siberian Husky themed children’s illustrated picture story books, Adventures of Hot Rod Todd, I don’t think of myself as an ‘author’ or as a ‘writer’. ‘Story teller’ sounds better. My books are so dependent upon the illustrations. That’s where illustrator Cameo Anderson http:// www.cameoanderson.com/ comes in. Cameo really can see into my mind’s eye interpreting my often rambling page descriptions into works of art; there’s a saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words” and with a children’s book that is so important and Cameo nails it every time and then some. So, for your enjoyment, here is a page from the Coloring Book featuring some of the characters and scenes from the books. Coloring Book FREE PDF download available via website www.adventuresofhotrodtodd.com

Adrian S. Czarnecki is a semi-retired writer of Siberian Husky oriented children’s books based on an actual litter of 6 puppies born to his Dam Empress Maya and Sire Damien Czar on March 14th 2019. Born in Huddersfield, England, Adrian has travelled the world extensively pursuing careers in journalism, photography, PR / Marketing as well as print and sales. Adrian now lives in Idaho, USA with his wife Meta and their Siberian Huskies who keep them on their toes.