Does your home look bare, naked and cold after you've taken down the Christmas decorations? Surely, the lack of tinsel and fairy lights is one of the reasons why January always feels so bleak.
And then there is the business of trying to store and cram all the decorations again, which somehow gets more difficult with each passing year. Do the baubles spend their time on the tree reproducing, I wonder?
It was during an attempt to clear excess clutter from the cupboard that I came across an old 1985 newspaper: a true and proper blast from the past. Undoubtedly, it had been put away by my father for its historic value: The Times 50th Year Anniversary Supplement.
I love old newspapers. I don't really care about the news bits - it's more the adverts and the photos that enthral me; they tell so much about society of the time. Now, 1985 doesn't really feel so far away, but it's already been 25 years. If you think about it, we are as far away from 1985 as we are from 2035. Yet, even just writing 2035, I get all kinds of futuristic science-fiction images in my head.
So what can happen in 25 years? From the 1985 supplement, it seems that a lot and nothing can happen. For starters, the back page was a full-page advert for a cigarette brand: an utter impossibility nowadays. But then there were ads for Joinwell, Satariano and Max Factor, companies which were and still are with us.
The Phoenicia Hotel had already been open for 40 years, while the Hilton was still the old version. Farsons had just launched its lager and Hopleaf in cans. Lachryma Vitis adverts show that this table wine was the top brand by Emmanuel Delicata Winery at the time.
A leather shop advert claimed that they were in Bisazza Street 'just opposite the Plaza cinema'. What's this? I remember the Alahambra Cinema in lieu of what is now Zara, but have no recollection of there being another cinema in Sliema.
"Yes," said my mother. "We took you to watch The Jungle Book there." Hmm. Quick googling shows that in 1985 our cinemas were regaled with the brawny Rambo 2 and Rocky IV instead of the brainy Sherlock Holmes.
It was also the year of Back to the Future, with flying cars and all that. We still have to get there, though we've made significant steps. Why, in the 1985 supplement, UCIM had a full-page advert for Fiat Uno - which had only been launched two years earlier and was deemed as the 'in' car.
Jeffery Archer's First Among Equals was advertised as 'the paperback for 1985'. Did we read more 25 years ago? We certainly watch more TV now than ever before, as evidenced by the Hollywood-style attempted robbery last Tuesday. And speaking of banks: Mid-Med Bank advertised itself as the 10-year-old bank with over 100 years' experience.
Photos show women in stiff paddings, which are now back in fashion, and men in Freddie Mercury style moustaches (never again, please!). There were no adverts for mobile phones - they were still unheard of - although someone at Vodafone, that very same year, was creating the first really portable phone for the general public.
There were, however, several computer adverts (men in suits in front of very boxy, chunky screens), and some others highlighting the latest technology in floppy disks. The CD had just been introduced to American consumers that same year. Microsoft released the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0. They've run out of numbers now.
The winter of 1985 was probably way colder than this one. There is no mention of climatic worries anywhere. British scientists had just discovered a hole in the earth's ozone layer. The main concern of the year was famine in Ethiopia. In fact, remember Geldof's Live Aid? That was 25 years ago. And that song, Do they know it's Christmas time was recorded that same year to raise funds for famine relief.
So if you think about it, the main change we have seen in Maltese society from 1985 to today is that we have embraced modern technology. As a nation we're hooked to 'communication' gadgets - the internet, the mobile phone, Blackberrys and Facebook - but still we are popping down to the newsagent's for the newspaper. I hope we'll still be doing that in 25 years' time. It's comforting to know that some things will always be there, no matter what.
But perhaps the most insightful observation from the 1985 supplement was Mabel Strickland's. She said of the future, echoing Franklin Roosevelt: "There is nothing to fear but fear itself."
krischetcuti@gmail.com