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Sunday 15 December 2013

The 'C' word, and its association with owls, and a smell is for life, not just for Christmas.

The 'C' word offends a lot of people.  They wish we'd stop saying it, or at least, refrain from saying it in polite company, or among groups of children who pick it up like a chant and run round yelling "C********!" to anyone who will listen.  But, it is a sad fact of modern life that, like it or not, the C word is uttered ever increasingly, sometimes almost fondly, sometimes loudly and explosively, and while some cover their ears and mutter, others just smile and remark on how time has moved on...

What?  Well of course I'm talking about Christmas, what else would I be t... oh.  Oh, yes, I see the confusion there.  Sorry.  Yes.  I was talking about the whole Christmassy episode, I thought, since it's the fifteenth of December and there's only ten days to go before the Big Event, that I'd be able to get away with mentioning something that's been all over the shops since September.  I've even got a tree now, and candles and an inordinate number of decorations with owls on them.

 Seriously, what is it with the owls?  Why is an owl particularly Christmassy?  I live surrounded by owls and I've never seen one single one so much as don a Santa hat or drape tinsel, or attempt to 'whoooo' along to 'Merry Christmas Everybody!'.  So I am slightly baffled by the amount of owlage, or I would be if there wasn't a similar outbreak of foxage also stuck to my tree.  Foxes, I have to say, are Not Christmassy.  I know owls aren't either, but foxes are almost the epitome of Not Christmas.  It would be like me sticking all my cats to the tree and claiming them as ornaments.  Foxes smell dreadful and, yes, all right, so does much of my house, but that's all year round not just at this time of year, and a Big and Powerful Smell just does not scream "CHRISTMAS" to me.  It screams "get out your bottles of bleach and scrub for all you are worth because there is probably a dead mouse at the bottom of all this!"

Look.

You might have to squint a bit, but there are Definite Owls and Foxes there.  Big Powerful Smell not pictured, although it almost certainly presages a Dead Mouse, probably under the tree.

I'm going back to the editing.  It all makes more sense than sticking owls to trees and contending with A Smell, particularly at Christmas time...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

There is a particularly screechy family of - er - screech owls who usually have a good sing song at around my bedtime and they most definitely are not full of goodwill to all Bramley's! They are however cute and fluffy at other times and there is something special about hearing them "whoo whoo" through the trees. I have no idea where this comment is going, although I have to agree with the new Xmas Owl fashion, there is even one on my tree!
Cathy Bramley

Anonymous said...

I've seen lots of owl decorations this year. Am bemused. Owls are not a Christmassy animal. It's really very simple. The recognised Christmassy animals are reindeer, penguins, robins and possibly polar bears but they're a bit tenuous. Camels, sheep and donkeys are also acceptable but only when pictured with appropriate associated nativity story characters.

Stephanie Bisby said...

My 2013 diary had owls so they're definitely a year round thing for me. Koalas, one the other hand? Definitely Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Lizards. My inlaws always have stretchy rubber lizards at Christmas. Family tradition, apparently.

Owls seem to be on everything this year - cushions, stationery, baubles, mugs... I'm very impressed you're so bang on trend, Jane.
I expect Big Smells will be the next big thing.

Kirsty Allsop's Home Made Big Smell. Now that would be worth watching.

Jane Lovering said...

OK, so owls are A Good Thing (and bang on trend, thank you!) Hm. Dunno so much about the camels and koalas and lizards, although they are, probably, just as christmassy as owls, especially if they wear a jumper with snowflakes on the front.

And, if Kirsty runs short on Big Smells, I can help her out...