The turning of the year ... right at the furthest arc away from our sun, and starting to travel back with the promise of longer days, and more light and warmth for those of us in the northern hemisphere. A hopeful moment!
Much to my surprise, I have found myself doing a December Days photobook, with a very simple format ...
... and enjoying putting it together very much. There are some pages with family photos which I won't be able to share (for privacy reasons) but the rest so far are looking like this:
Of all the days, it's the 19th which will stand out in my memory: the shock of realising mid-afternoon that all our family plans were upended. The cot, already prepared, will be standing empty; the pile of presents they sent on ahead of themselves for us, their parents and each other will sit here unopened and they will have none to share on Christmas Day; the food orders have had to be swiftly cancelled, and the cake and Christmas pudding so optimistically made will hardly feel worth cutting into for just the two of us. And, worse still, the grim news of the new virus strain, fears around its possible severity and transmission, anxieties about whether it will succumb to the vaccine, the terrible economic news, queues at ports, being cut off from the rest of the world and family overseas, and the real possibility of all of it continuing for months to come ... (And that's before the final Brexit exit, the shape of which is still unclear.) Somehow, we will have to dig deep, be grateful for what we have, do what we can for others and hold a steady tiller in these buffeting times! Sending you all warmest good wishes ... Alexa.
Seeing a photo of you was fun. It's nice to put a face to a blogger.
Love the footprint reindeer too. That is adorable.
Don't we all have a lot in front of us right now. You have Brexit. We have the changeover of president, which by all indications is NOT going to go smoothly and we all have the fear of what this virus will do next.
I'm so sorry you will not be with family. We aren't either, but we KNEW way ahead that is how it would be so it is not nearly so disruptive.
Sending you all the peace and joy that we can muster up this holiday season and looking forward to what 2021 will bring. Hugs from the other side of the pond. D
Posted by: Dee | Monday, 21 December 2020 at 06:30 PM
I've so enjoyed these daily pages on Instagram, and I love seeing you front and center in a photo! Like you, I'm paying much more attention today to the turning of the calendar. Hoping not only for more daylight but light at the end of this seemingly endless pandemic. We, too, cancelled plans, but were able to ship the gifts to our daughter and family that we hoped to present ourselves. Sent a huge box of cookies as well. To my delight, UPS got them there in less than two days and none of the cookies had broken. I'm counting my blessings, of which there are many, and trying to keep the disappointment under wraps. Here's to 2021 and the hope that we'll all be able to travel again before it ends. Sending you blessings for Christmas and the New Year!
Posted by: Karen Walker | Tuesday, 22 December 2020 at 01:46 AM
Wonderful December pages. Using my friend's Insta account I have been enjoying there for the first time. I am sorry that your Christmas won't be as you had hoped. Our government is issuing warnings about no gatherings outside of your own household but yet won't lock down the province until the day after Christmas. We'll see if people heed the warnings. A wonderful photo of you & I did not know the birch signify new beginnings. I'll be going out later this morning to hug my own - let's do all possible things for a good 2021! Happy Christmas Alexa.
Posted by: Mary-Lou | Tuesday, 22 December 2020 at 12:02 PM
Your book is beautiful and I love knowing that birch trees are a symbol of new beginnings - maybe that is why I have always loved those trees. We are ready for a new beginning I think. Maybe we all need to plant birch trees. I am so sorry about the canceled plans, We are just living day to day right now. Happy Christmas - whatever that looks like.
Posted by: Juliann | Tuesday, 22 December 2020 at 02:07 PM
Oh Alexa, my heart goes out to you for the disappointment in having to cancel plans at the last minute. With presents sent on ahead as well, oh I am so sorry for you. We have to trust that taking this measures now will make a 'normal' Christmas next year more of a possibility.
What a December project this is going to be, but worth recording for posterity when people look back and say 'remember that time we were supposed to be getting together on Christmas day and then less than a week beforehand we were told we can't?'
Take care, and keep safe x
Posted by: Deb | Wednesday, 23 December 2020 at 10:24 AM
I was so enjoying your day by day celebration of December days, even though I knew what was coming. You are talented with wreath arranging and card making too - not to mention photography and writing.
We were not so severely limited, so at least had our 2 kids here. Our DIL was not feeling well (non-Covid), so she didn't come. So Christmas Eve was salvaged a little - but I confess to feeling a malaise all month, which was almost as disappointing. But not wanting to feel down for long, I am already making notes for making Christmas 2021 over the top!
Posted by: Susanne | Monday, 04 January 2021 at 05:32 PM