IS IT CHRISTMAS YET?

I went into the city centre of Glasgow to do a bit of Christmas shopping today. The place was buzzing in a pleasant, seasonal way. My route took me from the train station at Queen Street through an alley to the Buchanan Galleries.

On the steps of the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall was a choir singing. No name and no collection being taken .... very pleasant listening to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing".

The window displays vary: childrens' toys, wanna-be celebrity outfits to the fun and funky. I liked this one in a window of John Lewis's department store. (I used to love gazing into the store windows - Hudson Bay Company or Eatons in the big city- as a kid. I loved it if there were elves hammering at the workbench or Rudolph's red nose blinking on and off!)

The Salvation Army were out today in Buchanan Galleries as I had a coffee and mince pie up on the cafe level listening to their carols. Again I have many memories of small groups of Salvation Army playing or singing carols every Christmas.

One particular memory is of visiting a home for unwed mothers that they had in Vancouver somewhere out near Grace Hospital (Shaughnessy area) as I recall. A sister of a friend was there just before her baby was due. That would have been 1963 - 64. To think of it now... the present generation simply would not believe what it was like to be an unwed mother in those days! (Come to think of it you never even hear that phrase used any more!) And it was the Salvation Army who provided a practical solution to a big social problem.

The lights on Buchanan Street highlighted the Victorian buildings in the late afternoon as people headed home.