Once upon a time, back in my childhood, the weekend did not begin until Saturday afternoon. I recall going to school on Saturdays in my early school years at least until lunch time. Dad worked Saturdays too, but probably finished a bit earlier as well. (Mum was a housewife - which means she was on duty 24/7, weekend or not!) I don’t know when exactly we got free Saturdays. Some time in the mid/late 1960’s, I think.
I got to thinking about this while putting my Advent decorations up today – i.e. on the Thursday before the first Advent Sunday. Back in the 1960s, this would no doubt have been regarded as serious cheating. But looking out through my windows tonight, I see that I’m not alone in making an early start!
The advent star in my kitchen window is still of the same kind we had in my childhood – a simple paper star, of the same size, shape, pattern and colours as back then. (It’s not the same star, but I’ve been able to find replacements of the same classic kind every now and then through the years. I still have two extras, so they’ll probably last me as long as I’m still able to put one up!) Assuming my parents had one already the very first Christmas season of my life, that makes this my 60th year with that special soft orange glow lighting up the dark December nights for me.
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A lot of people - and certainly ALL the shops and even the canteen at our biggest customer's - have put up their decoration already at the start of this week. Christmas Market here has opened on Tuesday. My deco will go up Saturday, just in time for the first Advent Sunday, and it will come down on the 6th of January.
I love the story of your Christmas star! Most of the few deco pieces I put up have a story behind them, too. I am looking forward to seeing them all again after a year has gone by.
I can recall my father working on a Saturday morning and I think I did for perhaps a few months (on Saturdays we were allowed to wear sports jackets) when I first started work. I never went to school on a Saturday though. Advent seems rarely, if ever, to be visually celebrated here although Advent calendars are probably still available (complete now with the chocolate reward).
It's a time of year that tends to bring up a lot of memories, doesn't it :)
Graham, I suppose you could just as well just get a box with 24 pieces of chocolate... ;)
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