Having been away the week before Christmas and what with postal strikes and the fact that the GPO punishes anyone who puts our address as 133-135, instead of 135 only (I suppose they regard 133-135, rightly, as pretentious), we have returned to an unexpected mountain of Christmas cards, which I thought might be depressing, but is actually oddly, and unexpectedly, uplifting: messages from old friends; the odd change-of-address; much artwork; interesting choice of cards; news from people we haven’t seen because of COVID; a sense of connectness. Since I’ve abandoned card sending, doing it electronically instead (and also somewhat haphazardly), this is a way of thanking those of my blog followers who sent cards.
I particularly liked the old postcard of a brass in Saffron Walden Church with the greeting GAUDETE NATO SALVATORE, now that Happy Christmas is politically suspect.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Living as I do, in Jersey, not a far flung part of the British Isles, or is it, I do wonder how Christmas cards reach recipients these days. Surely the whole point of Christmas is to give and receive as well as to celebrate the birth of Christ. My daughter, whom lives in London, sent out copious Christmas cards to friends and family and yet only received around two in return. One was from me.