Gifts at Christmas

As I write this I have neither bought nor ordered a single Christmas present. I am probably among the least qualified people to comment on presents for Christmas, but I find it continually interesting as a topic, ever since as a child I couldn't resist making a hole in the plastic bag of presents my parents had prepared for all the family to take to our grandmother. It was our own family's present distribution service, and on a long three-hour journey the bag was the most interesting thing in the car, and by the end of the journey contained more than one hole in fact.

At this time of year I remember the presents I was given in those years- or I try to. It's something like the ghosts of…