Christmas lights in the rain

A foggy start gave way to persistent rain, gentle to start with but becoming increasingly heavy as the day went on, with a gusty north-east wind driving the rain under the front door. At midday it was almost dark - most perturbing.

My day was filled with last minute Christmas preparations. A chat with our elderly next-door neighbours, who are now having to spend Christmas alone, just to check that they had everything they needed. A final trip to Waitrose, where I also bought some bread for one of our other neighbours, whose three year old son has Covid. Fortunately both his parents have tested negative, but they're all self-isolating. Then some last minute Christmas emails, present wrapping and baking. Still got the tidying to do though!

I'd resigned myself to missing another day, but caught sight of the Christmas lights down our street this evening, cheerful against the raindrops on the bedroom window. This image seemed to sum up the day and maybe the whole of Christmas 2020 - a valiant effort by so many people to keep the spirit of Christmas alive at a time when everything seems so dark.