Hogmanay 2021.

My wife and I popped over to see our younger son this morning before he headed to golf. It was a wet morning, so his course was closed until noon. His Christmas tree looked lovely, so became my last photo of 2021.

We’d a walk in the hospital woods afterwards, on the mildest Hogmanay I can remember. It gave us a chance to reflect positively on the year coming to an end. Our family highlights of 2021. Achievements. Adventures. And things that happened outwith our control. So,….. our older son’s summer wedding; the very best of days, especially after a Spring of disruption - they’re a lovely couple. Home improvements planned and undertaken that we really like. Trips to the Hebrides with our sons, and walks on the beaches, hills and places and open spaces that we love. Time with family and friends in simple settings, at home and in the garden. At birthdays and so on. And four vaccinations to help us live a wider life in safety. There’s more too; things seen, music heard, words read and spoken. Animals encountered and people met.

Whilst at our younger son’s he learned of a friend who’d just been confirmed as Covid19 positive; we’d just discussed two others a minute earlier. We know many affected. Levels of Covid19 infection in U.K. are now at the highest rate of all time, continuing at circa 190,000 daily cases. ONS (England) confirmed 1:15 were positive in London recently, with 2,000,000 U.K. cases in recent weeks. Although omicron is apparently less severe than previous variants there’s clearly still a lot at stake. And Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have protective measures in place as we move into 2022; hard to believe four weeks ago that traditional Hogmanay events and more would be off here, smaller gatherings encouraged etc. As our NHS and society comes under pressure now, and in next months, it was good to learn today that our Boosted by the Bells booster vaccination campaign has been a success.

Happy New Year.