Champagne cocktails, roast chicken and a zombie film

Happy New Year. It has a slightly hollow ring this year. 

                                                                                  🎆

No one has sent me emoji-bristling texts of fireworks and drinks; and we didn't speak to anyone at midnight except between the three of us and the dogs. And that was fine. It's only a human construct within which we eat, drink, buy too much unnecessary stuff and often become maudlin and dismal as we consider our failures and fuck-ups of the past, present and probably the future. Not really. Everything is wonderful and marvellous. Not really. Everything is a little worrying and uncertain. But then life is; it's what you make of the highs, lows and plateaus of everydayness.

The thought of winter stretching ahead may be depressing, browsing through summer holiday destinations possibly a waste of time; maybe we should look in detail at the small stuff. Walk more, observe the natural world at close proximity (thank you Katherine for the wild flower book). Our worlds are likely to become smaller, diminish a little, or a lot. 

2002, a collection of human-fabricated time elements was indeed . . . odd; devastating for many, tedious for others, but it could also be viewed as the planet sending us a warning before removing us and our largely thoughtless plunderings. The 'tic removal' prong is well and truly hovering above us to my mind. 

So, following our evening of a champagne (local fizz) cocktail, roast dinner and a zombie film that we purchased at Emmaüs, what New Years Resolutions flitted to mind this morning at breakfast. Nothing much really. The usual ones - swear less, buy even less stuff - will be continued but a new one came to mind: less small scale blame. All those stupid little, if you hadn't forgotten to do . . . such and such, things. we all make mistakes all the time, and we all mostly act thinking we are doing our best. Forgive and forget. Remember the larger picture. Love thy neighbour, and especially one's precious family and friends. 

Here's to a peaceful start and continuation of 2021, remembering to tread a little lighter on this poor old planet in our own small ways.