While looking back at the very beginning of this website, I see that in December 2009 I began a series of Christmas odes. What is striking is that apart from two tiny edits and the list of countries whose very names strike fear into all of us, nothing has changed. Here it is:

Whether you are burning puddings,
Candles, midnight oil or joss sticks;
Whether you are theists, atheists,
Panentheists or agnostics;
Whether you are snug indoors
While the outside world is storming,
Or shivering in the icy blasts
(Produced by global warming?);
Whether you are terrified
By a nuclear Iran,
Or wondering how we’ll ever leave
Iraq, Afghanistan;
Whether banks and politicians
Drive you to depression,
Or you trust their "selfless" love
To end this grim recession;
Anything that cheers us up
Must be a good idea.
So Merry Christmas, everyone,
And have a great New Year.