It was last night while I was out walking that I caught the first real tingle of the festive season. I was out delivering cards to my neighbours and in the process of being postie I met up with three of the folks I was calling on. As it happened I hadn’t spoken to any of them for quite some time, not out of indifference or division you’ll understand, but simply because we hadn’t bumped into each other recently. Since our old dog, Alfie, died last year we have walked out less and stayed home a little more. Driving away from your house does not allow the best chance of meeting up with the folks living nearby.

So if there’s a new year resolution I think mine has to be to walk and talk more. I am however grateful for the familiarity of our local ‘hood. We feel relative newcomers even though we’ve lived in our house for the last thirty one years and I still feel there are many locals I haven’t yet encountered. So, if you’re reading this and passing me over the holidays , do say hello.

If that tingle factor hasn’t happened for you yet I hope this week’s Christmas AC may be the thing you need, even though you didn’t know you’d missed it. This coming Tuesday evening I’ll be on the airwaves with a broad selection of AC Christmas favourites and a few newer tracks we haven’t broadcast over the last eighteen years or so. The country community are given to celebrating the holiday season more fervently than any other genre. No country artist worth the name can reach peak performance without delivering an album of yuletide classics. The trouble is they all tend to cut the same classics as each other and it seems pointless filling up the airwaves with more of the rather bland offerings that come out each December. So forgive us if we repeat ourselves but we’ve chosen to make this week’s AC special a wide take on the Christmas classics.

You’ll hear John Prine, The Youngsters, Los Lobos, The Staple Singers and the great Mahalia Jackson. There will be Santa and all the usual nonsense but we’ll also get to the heart of the story via Bruce Cockburn, Mahalia Jackson and The Louvin Brothers. Whether you’re affiliated to a particular religion or have no need of it I promise you we will try to bring songs which illuminate one of the world’s great stories. For me, the idea of a God who comes to be born in a stable still moves me beyond words. I hope you feel the power of the nativity story in this special show too. Thank you for listening over the last twelve months. I’ll be with you again when January comes. Have a peaceful Christmas season.