I’LL HAVE ANOTHER
It doesn’t matter what is
the origin of Boxing Day in England, today it is a holiday where shopping,
drinking and sporting events fill the day.
Depending on whom you
talk to, Boxing Day had either something to do with giving the servants the day
off and sending them home with “Christmas Boxes” filled with food and money, or
the day that boxes for alms set outside churches were finally opened and the contents
distributed to the poor. Now, it’s a “bank holiday” where businesses close and
pubs open and football matches fill the television screens.
The holiday is celebrated
the day after Christmas, December 26th or the first weekday after Christmas
in England and Wales and through much of the Commonwealth of British nations.
Supposedly Boxing Day is considered a big shopping day where retailers fling
open their doors with big reductions on prices, but here in Nantwich, our
second home in Chesire, England, most of the little shops were closed and the
streets were quieter than normal. We took the grandchildren to the market to
buy some items, but they had no more chicken eggs, our number one priority! Although, we were able to get a comfy set of couches at Caffé Nero our favorite café in
town as it wasn’t crowded at all. Hot chocolates and lattes are great pastimes
with the grandchildren.
Later that day we went
to the grandparent’s home for an expansive buffet served for Tea, what our
hosts call an early dinner. We ate, drank and drank some more as we watched the
Everton F.C. match on the television and chatted with family and friends until
nearly midnight.
It was a relatively
quiet day, perhaps because of the lingering effects of COVID when there was a
severe lockdown throughout England, but in previous years we had gone on pub
crawls and watched a well-attended match of the semi-professional local
football club, the Nantwich Town F.C. at Weaver Stadium before Tea. Their
nickname are the Dabbers although some in the crowd were calling them the
Cabbages, because of their green kits.
Thanks for reading!
Love Janet and greg
© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj
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