Lighting up time

The ceremony had been much hyped but as I walked into town it started to rain which was the first sign of trouble. The "market" consisted of seven rather lame stalls and the entertainment consisted of a tacky Thomas The Tank Engine roundabout and the same Santa’s grotto as last year with three robot reindeer heads singing with one voice (literally). The lady mayor forced the small and dismal crowd to practice counting down from ten before doing it in earnest, and the lights went on. At that point I legged it home before someone could drag me into some impromptu carol singing and a polystyrene cup of lukewarm mulled wine.

Not this community’s finest hour. But the tree (donated as usual and with great irony by the Asian Business Association, which consists mostly of Muslim taxi drivers) is now up and running for Christmas. 

Hallelujah.