What Joan said.
I know it's a halcyon past that most people think never existed, but I DO remember horse drawn carriages and blokes with top hats and scarves lighting the Narnia lamps and little street urchins with their faces up against the sweetie store window looking at the striped candy canes.
Well all right, that was off a card, but I certainly do remember the smell of the coal fire and the snow outside, and the dark nights and the Christmas carols.
I'm not religious, but Christmas was never a religious but a cultural thing for me, just as I can still smell the candles inside the hollowed out pumpkin at Halloween.
I'm looking forward to being the fat old grandpa who, having been down the pub with his mates, plays peep-bo with his grandkids then falls asleep after the Christmas dinner. Trouble is, there are no pubs here and no prospects of any grandchildren before I pop my clogs.
So instead, I shall become a hermit, live in a cave, do nothing but draw my cartoons, and everyone can all f*ck off.