Christmas Ideals

December is here, bringing with it the usual Christmas cheer.  The streets are packed with shoppers, the radio is jammed with festive tunes, trees are going up all over the world.  As Andy Williams said, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

In recent years my family and I have cut back on the over-the-top indulgence that so easily grabs people through the festive season.  Instead, we tend to focus on what is important in our lives - family, friends, home, unity and togetherness.  Presents - and, of course, there are presents - are the mere sideshow to the warmth and pleasure of a family Christmas.

It is perhaps these messages that come through most when looking at the idyllic painter, Thomas Kinkade.  His range is extensive, but I particularly like to look up his work at this time of year - his winter paintings fill me with a Christmas ideal that both homely and wonderfully nostalgic.  From the big city to the country tracks, I can imagine myself in any of these scenes, in a time where the pleasures of life were both simpler and more meaningful.  Which is your favourite?

Christmas at the Ahwahnee

Christmas on Main Street

Evening Carolers

I'll be Home for Christmas

Hometown Christmas Memories

Blessings of Christmas

Boston Celebration

Christmas in New York

Deer Creek Cottage

Home for the Holidays

Night Before Christmas

Victorian Christmas