The weather is warmer if still erratic. Everyone is frantically trying to finish up projects.
That means the to-do list gets longer and the "finish before Christmas" requests pile up. These last few weeks of December become really busy, but excitedly so.
The graduations are on and so the city is pumping with happy, if tired and emotional, parents and whānau. Everyone is stressing about money, family and travel and but there is this little light at the end of the crowded tunnel.
That little light is the wee holiday that most of us will have between Christmas and New Year.
That small window of time holds so much promise. I suspect that promise is largely fuelled by nostalgia about the seemingly endless summers of childhood.
Swimming at the river, being bitten by sandflies, eating very barbecued lamb chops liberally salted with sand. In my mind that time did stretch for months.
As a grown-up, I can cope with the reality that is mostly just the statutories and a few annual leave days in between. It still feels like a win.
I suspect that is because it’s the same for almost everyone. Almost the whole country takes a breather and it feels like real community to do that all together.
That’s why we value this time so highly.
So my advice, for what it’s worth, is to ignore those grinches who complain, from their air-conditioned work-from-home office set-ups, that productivity declines for Christmas.
Good. It’s supposed to. That’s the whole point.
It’s not like we don’t all contribute to the economy during that time anyway.
We buy presents, camp chairs, beach toys, swing ball and cricket bats. We fill up the tank with gas and drive hundreds of kilometres to lie on a beach.
We buy ice creams at shops just as good as those back home, but somehow more delicious.
Sunscreen and aloe vera sales skyrocket at the supermarket. Many jandals are bought and bought again when the toe hold breaks.
Summer is a time of commerce. For that we rely on and appreciate every single one of those workers who do not take that precious time off. They are the people who help us to have the break we have waited for all year.
So on behalf of all of us, thank you to the supermarket workers, the cleaners, the petrol station pumpers and the journalists. Thank you to the nannies, the house-cleaners and the gardeners too.
Thank you to the factory workers, the delivery, truck and taxi drivers.
Thank you to the police, the nurses, the firefighters, the lifeguards, the paramedics and first responders.
Thank you to the chefs and cooks, the kitchen hands and wait staff in the restaurants, cafes and pubs.
Thank you to the mechanics and the tow-truck drivers (actually a really big thank you to you from those of us who drive Leafs).
Thank you to the fishers, the farmworkers, the fruit and vege pickers and the butchers who keep us fed.
Thank you to everyone who makes it possible for most of the country to take a break with friends and whānau to usher in the summer.
There is some coal to hand out. No thank you to the consultants, the lobbyists and politicians who don’t contribute to the productivity of the country on a normal working day.
No thank you to the Taxpayers Union which wants more austerity and the climate deniers who would watch the world burn.
No thank you to those who want a debate between carbon copies on how to make life even worse or, alternatively, more terrible.
No thank you to the warmongers who send other people’s sons and daughters to die for their greed.
But enough about them. We have all year to fight those good fights against racism, corruption and poverty.
Now is the time to say Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou Pākehā!
Blessed be the peacemakers, may their job be done and their services no longer needed. Blessed be the carers, all those who place the needs of others ahead of themselves.
Blessed be the painters and the poets, the singers and the songwriters who give us joy every day.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. A safe and happy holiday to you all.
■ Metiria Turei Stanton is a law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
