Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Editorial: Last of the summer swine

By Mark Story
Hawkes Bay Today·
8 Jan, 2017 06:42 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The end of the Christmas ham means back to work.

The end of the Christmas ham means back to work.

If decorating the Christmas tree is the most exciting time of the year, then felling it is surely the most gloomy.

There are few more sombre suburban scenes than a formerly verdant Christmas tree sitting unadorned and anaemic atop a trailer full of rubbish.

To boot, my leftover festive booze supplies have gone and the cards are in the recycling.

Our Christmas ham, picked at since the 25th, is now just a bone. The last of the summer swine signals that very moment the Christmas spirit is usurped by the dispirited.

How so? Why can't we hang on to the well wishing all year? After all, it's still summer, so why the melancholy?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Surely it's not just because the silly season assures guilt-free indulgence.

I think moreover it's because Christmas is a triumph of tone; that rare juncture where we look neither back nor forward. It's a time of presence.

We care only that the kids are happy and that something that once either clucked, mooed, baaed, roared or squealed is spinning slowly on the rotisserie.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In contrast, the second week in January marks a return to the aspirations of temperance, moderation, graft, common sense, early nights, self-improvement and working whatever hours you need to afford said protein for next year's rotisserie.

We treasure the festive season so dearly because we know there's a steep descent just over the hill.

Needless to say, now's an extremely tough time of year to stay positive.

But, as I heard someone say recently, rather than cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

'Shame': Former Clubs Hastings CEO gets home detention for theft

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

05 Jul 11:55 PM
Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

'Shame': Former Clubs Hastings CEO gets home detention for theft

'Shame': Former Clubs Hastings CEO gets home detention for theft

06 Jul 05:00 PM

A criminal history check came up clean because Robert Don had changed his name.

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

05 Jul 11:55 PM
Premium
Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

05 Jul 06:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP