After what seems like several months of Christmas being force-fed to me, I am now happy to concede that this ‘season to be jolly’ is upon us. Not being religious means that this festival is, for me, one based on companionship, food, drink and relaxation - normally. This year will be different, whatever your take on Christmas. Reduced congregations or closed churches, smaller gatherings at home, suppressed jollity out of respect to those who have left us or continue to struggle with this virus... I sometimes think that, apart from the truly religious, anything else pertaining to Christmas this year has an air of triviality about it. I’m not going to debate the why’s-and-wherefore’s, the do’s-and-dont’s and the right’s-and-wrong’s - we will all conduct ourselves as we believe we should over the coming week or two. We can but hope that the vaccine roll-outs speed up, they work well, and that by the spring we might just be entering the start of normality, although I would question as to whether or not ‘normality’ will be what we remember it as.
It seems highly likely that, after Christmas we will then suffer a spike in deaths and cases - due to the relaxation of the ‘rules’ over the designated five days. So, back to a strict lockdown then. Whereas the initial heavy clampdown coincided with some wonderful spring weather, this one will be conducted during the harshest of the winter months. It will be an altogether more difficult time for many, and mental health will be a problem as much as COVID. Over at ‘Of Esox and Observations’, Dylan Wrathall asks whether or not I might be tempted to reconvene the #BWKM0 garden watch in such a scenario. Well Dyl, no, I’m not, but if anybody else does, I’ll certainly join in!
As an aside, this post is the 230th of the year, the highest number for this blog during a calendar year. That’s got to be worth a toast - so, cheers!
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