I am Dreaming of a White Christmas

“I am dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know…
Where the treetops glisten and children listen..
To hear sleigh bells in the snow…”
Irving Berlin’s popular song filtered from the speakers of my phone and filled the airways. Christmas songs were always beautiful to me. I heard this one first when I saw Home Alone the movie and heard so many others for the first time. It got me thinking deep, yeah. Well, not just thinking, it got me nostalgic. I couldn’t help but remember when Christmas was the most important time of the year in my life. As a kid, a lot of things should have been more important to me, but I chose Christmas. Maybe because I always got new clothes, something every kid in Nigeria termed Christmas cloth. I didn’t just get one, I got two; the one I wore on Christmas day and the one I wore on New year’s day. It started with the funny gowns that had hats and bags, then it got to just gowns, then blouses and skirts and finally jeans. Each dress transitioning as I grew older. My mum always made sure we lacked nothing during Christmas.
Then, the Christmas season was ushered in by fireworks or what we just referred to as “banger”. Once the “mber” month started, we started hearing it, the sound everywhere, just to spice the Christmas season. I remember I and my brother “taking” N5 which was on the fridge top. We had to climb a stool to get the money and for what, so we’ll be among the people that blew banger. The “kpa” sound was satisfactory because N5 could only get banger with one sound. We weren’t allowed outside the house much, so we sent our neighbour to buy it for us. The worst of the kpa sounds came on Christmas eve, Christmas day, New year’s eve and New year’s day. Everywhere gets so noisy that I remember not been able to sleep on those nights. I also recall my mum yelling at some kids in the neighborhood one Christmas eve who were disturbing with banger. It was hilarious.
Another reason Christmas was fun was because of the eating and drinking and partying. Schools always had Christmas parties. My primary school had the best Christmas party I could ask for. The train ride round the neighborhood, the cotton candy(I didn’t know the name then), the dancing, yeah I used to dance in primary school, wasn’t such a terrible dancer as now. Lol. Then the eating of fried rice with big chicken and any drink I could ask for on Christmas day itself. Damn, I was living the life. I also loved the hangouts with friends and family. We didn’t really travel during the Christmas holidays, actually I remember just travelling once in 2004 during Christmas. Our travels were during long vacations or we don’t go at all. I remember the amusement park visits, the Ferris wheel, the haunted house I never entered cos my mum said it was devilish, the horses, the Father Christmas treats; the nylon always contained goodies. I remember being interviewed by a correspondent from AIT one Christmas at the Amusement Park. I was so psyched about it. Unfortunately, I never saw myself on TV because the time they showed it, we were always saying our morning prayers. My, Christmas was awesome, nonetheless.
Finally, what we termed our white Christmas was our Harmattan season. Our bodies were dry and white. Everywhere was white with dust and cold. I wasn’t a fan of Harmattan, still not a fan. I hate how dry my skin gets, or my lips. Somehow, I think it was better then, with the cold. Now it’s just hot, too freaking hot. I even heard it snowed in Jos at one time, they had a white Christmas, literally.
I am dreaming of a white Christmas, dreaming of the carefree life I had as a child, when I didn’t have to bother about my clothes cos I’d definitely get it. Now I have to clothe myself. I’m dreaming of the peace we had. Now, people in the North are hoping they don’t get bombed just for celebrating the birth of our Lord. Even the normal ritual killings then are not as rampant as now. With people stealing pants to make money. Jeez! Everything is more expensive during this season, but it’s worse now, thanks to the government. Everything seems to have deteriorated . Even normal banger, I don’t hear it so much again. It’s December and to be frank, I’m not smelling the Christmas in the air. What I smell is the election and the tension. Downloading the original Christmas songs is war with all the covers musicians have made. Well, the covers aren’t so bad. I wish for things to just be simple again. If wishes were horses, I won’t just ride, I’d buy the horses and keep. Anyways, I still love Christmas, nothing is going to steal that from me. We’ll just have to live with what we have, we manage, we struggle, we live. There’s hope for a better Nigeria. So I urge everyone reading this to be happy, I know you’ll ask what there is to be happy about, but there’s a lot. You are alive and you are reading this article, perfectly, even if you are using glasses like me, you can still read. So, my message today is be happy, be hopeful, be prayerful, be you. Merry Christmas everyone and a prosperous 2019 ahead. Much love.
#Liv.