We celebrate Saint Glinglin
The holidays are behind us and the Christmas tree has been cleared away.
Life is getting back to its normal rhythm. In itself, that is a good thing. It can't always be party time and afterwards it is rather tiring. However, the January blues are just around the corner. It is not for nothing that we have "Blue Monday". There are rumours that a number of smart people invented Blue Monday to be able to sell their empty hotels and holiday homes in January. The reality is that many people feel that the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year. The rain, the traffic jams, the unfulfilled good intentions and the feeling of having to face another six months until the summer holidays cause depression, increasing absenteeism and divorces.
But not for us. Three years ago, we invented Saint Glinglin. The fun in anticipation starts on New Year's Day in the evening.
Saint Glinglin starts on the fourth Friday afternoon of January and lasts until the following Sunday. This weekend starts somewhere between 22 and 28 January, and ends on 30 January at the latest.
We plan a week in advance, that's all we need in January, and we have a week of anticipation. On Friday afternoon we pick up the children from school and, before the traffic jams really start, we go out. The country side and the hills are popular. If we have planned a trip a little further away, we break the compulsory education law for once and leave on Thursday. We like snow, even if it means driving a bit further.
Saint Glinglin is ours. Nobody else has anything to do with it. We keep the curious at a distance: we have been asked to stay with vague friends and no, nobody knows them. In reality, we have the Saint Glinglin weekend all to ourselves. We stay in a hotel or a cottage at January prices and have the restaurant and the swimming pool almost to ourselves. Last year we looked a little further and had a weekend of snow fun. This year we're going on a castle tour.
On Saint Glinglin Sunday evening we're fully charged again. We’re ready for February and March, with their fully packed bungalow parks and ski resorts. Let everybody join the traffic jam. We're not going to join in. We’ve had our share of fun.
We should do this more often. We're still thinking about an autumn weekend. October, just before the autumn break, seems like a good idea. Now we just need to think of a name.