As we approach the end of it, I wanted a recent photo to sum up this dreadful year; but one which had hope in it – and an element of fun, despite the deluge of bad news we seem to face daily.

This is not me trying to be heroic. It’s simply a photo taken on Sunday by my wife, Bernie, during a rain and hail storm near Lake Windermere. Within minutes, we could have been saturated, and hurrying the half mile back to the car. Fortunately, we were both well protected – essential for winter life in Cumbria – and able to find the whole thing funny. The humour was lost on Tess, our collie, who had a bit of a sulk, until we got the chucker and ball out of that bag around my shoulders, at which point the downpour didn’t seem to matter…

Hopefully, the photo has some of the elements that characterise us Brits under adversity – self imposed or not. We know how to shield ourselves from the vagaries of the climate. We know that what connects us to the earth can also be watery. We know how to smile at the ridiculous… it’s a good job, really.

Beyond all of this, there is an ability to endure, to hitch a ride on the vehicle of time, which does away with all things… including our youth.

I’ll be taking a holiday from blogging for a short while over Christmas. I look forward to rejoining the writing stream in January. Thank you to everyone who has supported these posts in 2020 – you’ve been wonderful.

I hope 2021 is a better year for us all.

Happy Christmas!

©️Copyright Stephen Tanham, 2020.