Welcome to the Holidays

Cliff Richard once went on a holiday - one that evoked images of afternoon tea on the veranda, frollicks on the beach and postcards sent back home to mum. Green Day’s Holiday was much more chaotic - stamped with their trademark brand of non-conformist, angst-ridden irreverence. I am sure they love their mums but I’m not so sure they’re the kind of chaps who regularly write postcards or wear kiss-me-quick hats. And then there was Billie Holiday – who was neither a Holiday nor a Billie and who, as far as I am aware, didn’t have an awful lot to say on the subject.

It's summer holiday time now though. The kids are off school and thousands can be found gazing eagerly into the weeks ahead: stretched out before them like a magical world of endless possibilities. Their parents, on the other hand, are wondering with slight trepidation if they’ve managed to arrange it so there’s at least one responsible adult around to make sure the kids, in no particular order of importance: put on enough sunblock; stay hydrated; not turn feral; eat enough healthy food to avoid scurvy; and not irretrievably rearrange the whole house and garden into a den/princess castle/space station/dragon’s lair/pirate ship/racing track (delete as appropriate).

The summer holidays are a time of relaxation, adventure, sun, rain and occasional frustration and yet the meaning of the word suggests something quite different. As I’m sure you’ve been able to guess but probably, like me, haven’t taken the time to think about too much, the word ‘holiday’ derives from the Old English word hāligdæg, which, rather unsurprisingly, means holy day. It harkens back to an age when there wasn’t an awful lot of opportunity for time off and when religious sensibilities were perhaps more naturally ingrained than they are now. In those days, time off was usually reserved for religious observation. We do still observe holy days now of course but we also have the luxury of so much more. So, how are we going to spend them? How are we going to live these summer holy days?

It's time to stand shoulder to shoulder with the children of the nation and gaze into the future of possibilities.

I wonder what’s going to happen?

Crack out the sunblock and the umbrellas, it’s time to find out…