Just Molly and me

Happy New Year!

How to see the new year in is a conundrum this year. Thankfully, after ten days of self-isolation due to coming into contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus, today I was free! Gosh, how I’ve missed my walking boots.

I resisted temptation to jump straight in. Instead, I took Molly for a walk this afternoon as I wanted to be near the water when the sun set. Living on the sunrise coast means our sunsets over the sea are purely in our imagination. And it’s been a flat sort of day – I glimpsed the sun ghostily doing its thing behind thick clouds earlier. By the time I got outside it had given up the ghost (ha! great pun there).

But there was something about being in mud, with the temperature just above freezing, and the breeze freezing my ears off that was pleasant. Yes, I’m going to use the word ‘pleasant’.

Much of today, the grand finale of the year, has been quite underwhelming. The day here in Essex has been grey. The temperature hasn’t changed much. We can’t socialise. Even the supermarket wasn’t very super. It’s felt as if all the air has been sucked out of it.

I’m very much aware that this is a good place in which to be. I am very much aware that in hospitals and in many households life is very different. For there, the day will not have been underwhelming. Today will have been about life and death.

I walked along the sea wall and watched the Canada geese and, as always, I was grateful for the moment. An underwhelming day is good. It means that I, and all those that I love, are safe. And who could ask for more than that?

Happy New Year, dear friends. I hope the new year is filled with love, peace, happiness, and good health….and laughter – we all need a bit of that.