Boxing Day mayhem

I have never been much of a X-mas 'afficianado' myself. After all, it normally is all about stuffing as much food in your mouth as possible. Consequently, people are looking more and more like the bird they are devouring during X-mas, stuffed turkey. It is totally understandable as well. Heavy snowfall and frosty weather are enough to keep most people inside. That is, in the northern hemisphere. And what else is there to do than eat? Things are changing however. Nowadays, thanks to global warming, temperatures in winter are almost as high as they are in the summer. No more excuse to only sit at the dinner table waving your cutlery and shoving food into your mouth. For me it is therefore very convenient to be staying in Canada, a country that is known for its harsh wintery weather and its close proximity to the North Pole. And did we get a lot of it on X-mas day? No we did not. At least not on Vancouver Island. The white roofs on X-mas morning were merely an indication of a frosty night though, but enough of an excuse for me to join my family for a copious X-mas dinner. Twice. Very nice.
Unlike the Netherlands, Canada does only have one X-mas day. Probably because Santa Claus works a bit harder here and only needs one day to get all the presents delivered to the anxiously waiting kids. The nice ones, not the naughty ones to be precise. However, the 26th of December is pretty much spent the same way as it is in the Netherlands. Shopping. Boxing Day, as it is called, is the day to get out and about to hunt for bargains. Not for me though as I know how these things work. Also pretty much the same as in the Netherlands. Prices will be gradually raised from the summer onwards toward December. The discount given on Boxing Day will pretty much lower the price to summer level. The best time to go X-mas shopping therefore is the summertime. No fooling me there. 

For those poor souls that cannot avoid the Boxing Day mayhem, I would advice to go out later in the afternoon, closer to dusk, and choose Ladysmith as the place to do so. The 'city of lights' it is called these days, and for a reason. Every year in the weeks before X-mas, the retailers of Ladysmith put up thousands of lights in the streets and shop facades  of this otherwise unubtrusive town. For bargain hunting shoppers it has the advantage of being able to see where you are going in the dark. And for those that are dragged along by their partners it offers the opportunity to divert there view from the 'bling bling' pointed out by their 'better halves' to all the splendor on display in the streets. Much cheaper as well.

Boxing Day mayhem is thus made a bit more bearable...