A Nature's Path

Winter Wonderland 2019 is free to enter!  A surprise to me but add this to your Must go events in November-December time!

At this time of the year we see a change in the scenery from shops doing business as usual without that need to say 'Happy Holidays!' to a smile on Baristas' faces and that voluntary chirpiness we see during the festive period. Everywhere there are brightly lit streets with sparkling lights decorating street light poles and suddenly almost everyone is thinking of festive foods and gifts. Come March 2019, will we be able to travel across Europe to see all the various ways of celebrating Easter and Christmas? Will there be changes to how we look at these traditional celebrations? Yet we have to decide whether to put some effort in celebrating the festive season or not. This reminds me of the mother I overheard on the public transport telling her very young daughter to read a poem.  It's a nice gesture but as with cultural celebrations, we have to decide for our own selves whether we want to read a poem and then write one ourselves or not.  ...

#festiveseason Now that March 2019 is fast approaching we have to think about using our experience and knowledge to help countries we know through our cultural heritage and in childhood. For those whose parents are from different parts of the world, there's so much we can do to connect with those countries to ensure we have #cleanercity #natureinthecity and a way of communicating to help inspire them to appreciate the resources they have to help their community thrive. We often forget communities who need something and it never has been about 'me, me, me'. So next time you go about your daily chore think of the wider spectrum.

I never really thought about this topic but a friend said to me today, 'Do you have 2 different celebrations?' I nodded but said, 'I have chicken for my Christmas dinner'. The Scottish fruit cake which is like the Dutch Christmas cake, a little duck, if I can get some before 23 December and a soup I find refreshing, called Tong Yuen, which my step father made well. And I continued, 'Some miss out on world foods by forgetting' their cultural backgrounds and 'miss out on the amazing food' each culture has. Then I had more time to think about it and said, 'But now the main foods we have in the UK are noodles, fried rice, curry dishes and pizzas. It's no longer just fish and chips!' Photos to follow. Photo via https://www.flightnetwork.com/blog/22-festive-holiday-foods-around-world/ The soup can be either savoury or sweet and either is equally nice. Pronounced 'tong yuen'.