A classic Christmas Day in Gisborne

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Another Christmas has come and gone leaving some New Zealanders facing a return to work today, joining those who have spent the time in jobs such as emergency and essential services. For many others it’s a case of being halfway through a holiday period extending over two weeks.

It is difficult to put a clear theme on Christmas 2023. In many ways it was just like every other Christmas one could remember but, in many spheres, there is a rising concern about what the coming year will bring. While the country’s churches enjoy their busiest and most significant time of the year, in an increasingly secular country the focus is on the actual holiday.

One pleasing aspect has been seeing the obvious signs of families getting together, with tents on lawns and people gathered around outdoor barbecues.

The weather did at least transform into a classic Gisborne Christmas day with hot and humid weather — a good day to kick back and recover from the traditional waistline-busting Christmas lunch.

Yesterday the annual Boxing Day sales were a focus for some although this Christmas the sales started before the actual day — a worrying sign that retailers are under pressure.

The increasing commercialisation of Christmas is something that has to be endured.

Against that, it was rewarding to watch news clips of charities providing meals for thousands of people.

For many attention will switch to a crowded sporting calendar. On this note there was an unexpected but really welcome development with boxing heavyweight Joseph Parker defeating heavy-punching American Deontay Wilder.

Parker lived up to the season as well by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, while he is not flavour of the month for the Saudis who were looking to set up a major promotion involving Wilder and Brit Anthony Joshua.

Sportswashing as it is called, the torrent of money invested by oil-rich countries in all sports, particularly football and golf, is a rising concern for genuine sports lovers.

In that sense it is nice to see dads rolling over their shoulder for games of beach cricket, as thousands enjoy the beach just for itself.

There will be anxious looks towards one of the perennial blights on the holiday season, road deaths and injuries. And unfortunately the highly commercialised season puts pressure on struggling families to meet expectations, while excessive alcohol consumption all too often brings with it violence.

But despite everything Christmas continues to be Christmas — in the words of the popular song, “the most wonderful time of the year”.