Every year is a new chapter, a
clean page with nothing yet written/scribbled on it, an empty calendar and
diary to fill up, a new list of things I would like to do, achieve, finish,
start, and the inevitable fact that life will take its own course no matter how
I try to impose my own agenda upon it. As John Lennon so famously said
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
The seasons come and go, the birthdays become increasingly improbable and I can start to look back on the life already lived, the two thirds of life I have already had if I am lucky enough to live out my natural life span and I can start to see the shape of my life and also the unexpectedness of it. Life is like a river, it picks you up and sweeps you along. I wonder where it will set me down next?
So, as the year winds down, I am thinking about what has happened, the things which have mattered to me, the highs and lows. This has been a year of painful and stressful dental and oral surgery which is now thankfully coming to an end. Sometimes it feels that life is the bits I squeeze in between sessions in the dentist's chair! There are worse things, I know.
My partner's father is adjusting
to the changes in his life, the loss of his independence, although it seems
unlikely he will ever be able to go home again. Frailer than ever, he is still
hanging in there. It's difficult.
The children are all doing OK and
that is the best thing. They are all finding their paths in life, the things
and people they need to make it satisfying, riding the tiger. Now that summer
is over they are making plans to visit, spend some time with us, although
Christmas is going to be very different this year as they redefine how they
want to spend their holiday. We might even have Christmas off for the first
time in over thirty years.
The house has been on the market most of this year but despite receiving an offer for it, we haven't sold. There is still uncertainty about where and how we want to live and I think we need to spend more time researching. Getting it wrong is an expensive mistake.
Sailing into Venice and Stockholm has been memorable, not always for the right reasons. The sea can be treacherous and should never be underestimated - it could easily have been us, as well as our lunch, that ended up in the sea. Our own small boat is over-wintering near Stockholm and I am looking forward to spending more time in Sweden and possibly Finland next year. I hope we will revisit Venice too, but the next trip will not involve living on a small boat with four other people and potential near-death incidents!
What sort of year have you had so far? Did it go the way you hoped? What are your hopes and dreams for next year?
