Christmas in Moray is special in that spending time with family and friends is special wherever you are – the real draw of Moray is when you can spend time with family and friends under our amazingly wide Moray skies, walking through the woods sparkling with frost, or a Boxing Day BBQ on the beach, blowing all the cobwebs away, creating your own festive fun!
I recall a fun Christmas as a child, spent with my family across the generations, dogs and all. We had prepared the food and set the table, the presents had been opened and the final touches to the meal were underway. Mum had come away from the cooker to share in the excitement, keenly watched by the family Springer Spaniel, Jasper. As soon as her back was turned, he quickly snaffled all the stuffing balls waiting on the side to go into the over, and then sat contentedly licking his whiskers! Stuffing balls are a particular favourite in our household and the chaos and upset which ensued was not fun. The dog was sent to his bed, panic ensued, how could we rescue this? Granny calmly went to the freezer and found a packet of frozen sausages, quickly defrosted them, removed the skins and formed them into new stuffing balls – Christmas was saved! As with most of life, perfect is not always the way, but together we can have fun and share in the joy of celebrating.
Fun at the Boxing Day Swim
Fast forward a few years to 2019 and we are here in Moray with an opportunity to support local charity by throwing ourselves into the North Sea in Burghead for the 33rd Boxing Day Swim. The Burghead Boxing Day swim has been raising money for charity for a number of years and has grown in popularity as the daring of throwing yourself into the Baltic (yes, that is an official term used to describe the sea temperature) North Sea never ceases to challenge even the bravest of us.
Despite the nerves, we were fully committed (the sponsorship of friends and family ensured that!) and headed through to meet our fellow swimmers from the Burghead Coastal Rowing Club. We were thankful for use of their shed on the pier to get changed and maybe a little daunted to see the many spectators, who had dragged themselves away from cosy fireplaces to watch this spectacle. After registering it was time, somehow, we had managed to be placed as the very first jumpers of the day (less time to stand and shiver in the sleet) and as a cheer went up from the crowd off we went, a run and jump. Two out of the 3 made a slick entrance to the water, the third performed a perfect belly flop, beautifully capture for posterity by the local press photographer. I won’t add a link to the article, but it is still out there on the world wide web. All 3 of our group completed the swim, enjoyed a quick mulled wine to warm up and then headed back to the festive bliss of Christmas Dinner leftovers and a log stove to share our stories of the fun with our families.
A perfect Christmas is always spending it with those we love, in beautiful surroundings, sharing the festive spirit.
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