So here we go, stepping into January again.
Though 2021 was an uneasy time here in my home, I know the year has been a much harsher, sadder and crueller year for many other people and so, come midnight, I’ll count my own blessings, and wish all ABBA readers and contributors as happy a 2022 as possible!
One thing has helped me get through this strange pandemic patch:
READING!
Reading has been a pleasure, a relaxation, a time of escape, a way of lighting up the brain, an occasional prompt for the imagination, and an offer of company during the lonelier and/or insomniac hours.
During times when concentrating was difficult – and it was - I dipped into different sorts of writing, moving from fiction to non-fiction, from poetry to the lovelier chapters of cookery books on the shelf and maybe even to the trusty HP Sauce bottle & marmalade jars.
All through this year, I’ve enjoyed older books, brand new books, real world & online newspapers & magazines; read books in kindle versions, books via the latest Libby downloads, blog entries, twitterface posts, those books I needed to read for book groups and so on and so on.
I’ve read books for all sorts of ages, books that have been praised, books that have been scorned, and some that were a struggle. Not every book need be the same level of intensity. Just as the same clothes don’t always fit every event, different moods call for different reading.
I
had, however, been wondering about the year ahead, when new stretches
of isolation and self-quarantine might arise . . .
Then, suddenly, this New Year’s Eve, our house has been granted a gift.
A very sad gift, but a gift none the less. A very dear, wise and kind friend – and a keen reader – had left us some of his books, and today we collected them.
In one way, it is like having his presence here in the house again. We are surrounded by the books he’d chosen, the ideas he was interested in and the subjects that he liked to talk about.
The books feel like a very great gift for the year ahead. A companion into the future, despite the sadness that he won’t be calling round for a drink tonight and we are, and will be, missing him. Sighing now, because that’s just how it is.
And so, onwards.
Here’s to all friends and family missed tonight, and the best of wishes for a Happy New Year - and better times ahead – for you all.
Whether reading or writing or both.
Penny Dolan
3 comments:
The clock’s a-strikèn twelve, d’ye hear?
Ting, ting, ding, dong! Farewell, wold year!
’Tis gone, ’tis gone!—
Goo on, goo on,
An’ ring the new woone in, so’s!
(William Barnes, the Dorset Poet)
Happy New Year!
Oh Penny, I do so agree with your comments about the importance of READING, especially when there are so many problems to deal with! Do enjoy your friend's books - you will think about him every time you read one!
I was thinking, over Christmas, if the Omigod variant had been around way back then,
there would have been loads of room at the inn, what with all the cancellations. In fact they'd probably have dragged M & J through the door, before their hands had even left the knocker.
But, then, there would have been no Away in a Manger, would there ?
Happy New Year, everyone.
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