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Back to the Start!

So, the year comes full circle again and here we are once more on this New Year's Eve or Old Year's Day, this Callenig or Hogmanay, this Ambang Malam or Capodanno, this Sylvester or Réveillon, this ole Oíche Chinn Bliana!

Whatever you call it, it's the annual occasion of looking through both sides of time's window, of letting go of what's gone and of reaching out for what's to come. Consciously and in equal measure!

The one thing I like about this day is its perfect positioning along time's arrow - a day when your vision is omni-directional. Today is as much about looking back in time as it is about looking forward to the future.

It is the day when, again, consciously, you pair what is done and gone with what is yet to come - a time where we all realise that what has gone before us helps us to make sense of the road ahead.

As I sup on my grog on this last day of the year, I can only say that, for me, this past year was a mixed bag of ups and downs, of delights and sorrows but I'd wager that yours was pretty similar to mine - as was the one the chap next to you had ... and the one after him!

But that was last year, wasn't it? 2019 brings with it its own promise and, to take full advantage of it, my only observation is that, though you might need to be Stretch Armstrong on a trampoline to reach for them, the stars are always above you and that, as ever, the ending of one thing usually marks the very spot from where to begin again.

So, starting positions please!

Happy New Year!

More soon ...

Get stuck in!



























 

Oh de Cologne!

Always a real treat this time of year to hit the ole European continent in an attempt to soak up a millimetre or two of that envious pre-Christmas atmosphere and charm that seems to descend upon the place like the proverbial mountain dew.

This time it was to Cologne we did venture to sample the delights of the bratwurst and the schnitzel, the glühwein und the kölsch, whilst eyeing up the sights, rejoicing in the relaxed atmosphere of a city that feels safe as houses and savouring the quirkiness of the interior design as much as the splendour of the magnificent colossus outside.

Were the world a smaller place, I'd be back like a shot!

Ooh! It ain't 'alf Christmassy!

More soon ...

 
Great indoors!







And out!