All I wanted for Christmas
Having had an ambivalent relationship with the Festive Period for many years – I’ve only recently learned how to truly enjoy the cooking, the jollifications and the present giving – I have often said that all I wanted for Christmas is to be happy. And we have had a truly wonderful Christmas and New Year. As, I hope, did you.
While tidying, mindful of wrappings and boxes to recycle, I reflected on the presents we received: many books, blankets and things to eat: confectionery, biscuits, seasonal jams, oatcakes… Not a techno gadget in sight, and no new clothes either. Instead, perhaps mindful of the climate crisis, rising fuel prices and much murmuring about supply chain problems, we now have enough blankets and scarves to keep warm should the heating go off, enough books to read until next year, and comfort food galore.
Is what we have received as a family an indication of a more general shifting of priorities across society? I do hope so.
While I would not go quite as far as to suggest that presents should only be for children, I do occasionally find the sheer avalanche of goods on offer a little daunting. So I’m heartened to notice a real up-turn in the fortunes of ‘pre-loved’ clothing sellers and the like; and relieved to notice that – finally! – more plastic packaging than ever – plastic-festooned boxes of chocolate, anyone? – are now being presented in recyclable packaging, but perhaps it’s simply that books, blankets and biscuits will always be welcome here.
I find such a clutch of items immensely reassuring and kindly – indeed, I need never worry, this year at least, that I will run out of books to read, and I can save a small fortune on delicious treats and chocolates. Now, all I need to find is an eco-friendly thank you card to send. There are quite a few to choose from…
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January 24, 2022
Plans for 2022
Fran Macilvey Fran Macilvey, Path To Publication 2 Comments
Plans for 2022
When I look at that date, I can hardly believe it’s already 2022 – where do the years go?
But unlike the somnolence of last year – the lingering uncertainties around lockdown, movement and meeting people anywhere but on Zoom – it looks as if travel will be possible this year and I hope to take full advantage of that freedom. I won’t be taking it for granted; which is another way of suggesting that I intend to enjoy my travels, in the full awareness that travelling any distance anywhere outside my immediate neighbourhood is a privilege.
Thinking back to pre-Covid times, many of us used to travel routinely to and from work on early flights. In the last few years, I’ve also made good use of early planes to get to Schiphol before the morning rush. Now, so many meetings take place “remotely”, I can’t help but wonder why it took a national pandemic, and all the crises management that that implies, to get me to change my ways. It’s not about “having” to meet people in the flesh, though that is undoubtedly a wonderful thing; but so much of what we formerly assumed was indispensable to our way of doing business, has been revealed as a luxury, a thing to appreciate and enjoy, and hopefully take more carefully than we usually would have done formerly. If only one good thing comes out of the last couple of years, it is that we are learning, I hope, not to take what we can do for granted.
Plans for 2022 include a visit the London Book Fair, which this year is open for visitors and happening between 5th and 7th April. Hotels nearby that used to charge a king’s ransom and insist that their bookings were non-refundable without the payment of a hefty premium, and that all sums be collected at point of booking, are now falling over themselves to be accommodating. Bookings are about half of the price they used to be, refundable practically up to the point of arrival and payable only when inside the hotel doors. All of which makes travel arrangements much more relaxed, enjoyable and affordable than they used to be.
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