[Food porn]: Christmas, sugarcoated

The kids waited for Santa...

A layer of snow peeked from beneath logs of wood,

While the league of extraordinary gingerbreadmen got themselves in order.

Baubles and tarts

And snow on presents.

Cinnamon smoke swirled out of the chimney

Is that fairy dust?

Mistletoe dropped from the ceiling

I must be in Bethlehem.

Also read: Ten carols you must play this Christmas

Christmas is nostalgia.

Or at least that's what it becomes. Like all traditions, it helps people maintain a sense of who they are. Tinsel isn't so much about tinsel but a repetition - in untiring circles around the tree - that offers a grounding, a continuity with our past selves, our childhood, our loved ones. In our house (and I've noticed this elsewhere too, at my in-laws, friends, aunts and uncles), every Christmas decoration has its designated place. The tree in one particular corner, the wreath at the front door, the holly wreathing the fireplace, the crib on a side table scattered with straw, the fat Santas hung from the same nail on the wall, year after year. The act of putting up decorations is a ritual as precise as mass in church. And drifting from the stereo, the same Christmas carols that have been playing as long as I can remember. Sometimes, there is such joy in predictability.

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