And They're Gone

The Christmas decorations I mean. They were a little low key this year - I just didn't have the enthusiasm somehow. I'm not sure why given Christmas here was pretty much what Christmas always is. We kept up the family traditions with the decorations going up on the first weekend in December and coming down on January 6. They were a little sparse although that sounds more grim than it really was. We still had a bauble laden tree with masses of shiny strings of gold and red beads and a wreath on the door - and the Christmas cards made a cheery display on the sideboard in the dining room. 

We only give children's presents these days - and let's be honest watching children open their gifts is far better than getting a gift yourself anyway. When we went around to Virgo's on Christmas Eve Miss Four and a Half was all but bouncing off the walls with excitement - while Master One was more interested in my walking stick until his ride on car was revealed. I gave Virgo and her husband a large jar of shortbread and Miss Four and a Half was already "sharing" it by the time we left. That was followed on Christmas Day by lunch with our extended family and another family lunch on New Year's Day. So all pretty much the usual.

Somehow, though, it didn't seem the same. We may have been going about our lives here but so many others weren't. Friends and family in other parts of Australia were caught up in yet another outbreak and even more were in lockdown in the UK and Canada. There's no doubt that this pandemic has quite a way to run and when it will start to wind down is anyone's guess.The new vaccines are very promising but we don't know how long immunity will last and what the new mutations may bring. It's all a guessing game and to be honest that's more than a little depressing.

All we can do is to try to keep people safe - and if that means lockdowns and social distancing so be it. I for one am not complaining about any measures put in place to protect us. We need to keep our heads and yes, I get that people are over living like this, never knowing when or if they might get infected and what the repercussions of that might be but we can't afford become blasé or to fall down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and doubt. Just remember that this will eventually end. All we have to do is to remember that. 

For me there is hope in the words of the English mystic, Dame Julian of Norwich, back in the Middle Ages, "All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.". She was a woman of great insight, much admired in her time - and she had a pet cat apparently. Obviously a woman of taste as well as wisdom.