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Published: December 20th 2021
The answer to "Are things any different to Christmas 2020?" is an emphatic no. On my wanderings around the Bangor environs I pondered that question as there was little to catch my imagination . I had walked the river paths each and every way and now in Winter they were less appealing than in the Spring sunshine or hot summer sun. I had paced the local roads day in , day out . Now I found I had nothing new to see , no flowers, no green on the trees just the skeletons that would sleep until spring arrived . And that seemed a lifetime away .
With each pace I asked the same question and got the same answer . No nothing had changed . This time last year we arrived at our new home to find no keys were available , the owner was not contactable and despite promising he had started to move his and his mothers belongings out in October he had lied . We found him here in the house surrounded by all her worldly goods. They attempted to hang on moving slowly for as long as they could as we stood out in the
rain and the removals bill was going up by the minute . They left a mess . A garage wet through and full of his rubbish. A shed equally full of an accumulation of years worth of rubbish . And to top it all - not a room had been cleaned . Sinks full of dirty wet towels. mouse traps and poison in the cupboards . We despaired and wondered if we would ever get anywhere near normal . Then there was lockdown . Straight into it . A two week shutdown on top of Christmas . It went on much longer and we struggled to find anyone who wanted to work . From electrician to plumber. From plasterers to deliveries . Everything stopped . Blamed on either Brexit or Covid or both .
As I walked I wondered if things had got better . Were we out of this nightmare of lockdown following lockdown? Were we any better off this Christmas compared to last Christmas? No , was the only answer I got back . We locked down prior to Christmas and did not re-open until May . We opened the leisure centres . We were able to
travel as long as it was a staycation . We locked down again for two weeks . Did any of that improve a single thing I asked myself time and time again . Back always came the reply . Waste of time . We never got rid of Covid . It just came back with another variant . We had our first jabs . We took our second and still the cases went on rising . As I reached the road I realised I had passed no-one this morning .Perhaps that was because of the mist which hung on the air . Or perhaps the dampness that clung to that mist and permeated every bit of clothing I wore . Perhaps it was just too cold and winter was not the time for walking . The problem with not seeing anyone I was just left to ponder the impossible . Was life better in Wales ? Most definately. Were there fewer cases since we had the two vaccinations ? No not really . And what about the booster ? That was going to be the key to all of this . Were things looking brighter ? No not really .
We were on the verge of a Christmas lockdown . France had denied us entry so that was Christmas in France gone down the pan . In the same way it had all through 2020 and 2021. Holland was debating a shutdown . Europe was in the grip still of the pandemic . Football matches were going to be cancelled either because the players had Covid or there was a fear that huge crowds would be super spreaders . I wondered if it would ever end . Would 2022 be any better ? Would we get to see the football season completed ? Would holidays abroad be on the cards again ? The van was sitting there unused . Taxed and insured . We had never put it on SORN. We had chosen to keep our health insurance running despite not using it . Could things get worse or would they get better ?
I was taken out of my thoughts as I fell into conversation with the older man I saw sometimes on my walks . He was up early mucking out his yard . He told me he had got rid of most of his cattle but kept five just to keep his hand in . It kept him busy and he was grateful for that . It had kept him sane during lockdowns . We talked about his apple trees which had during the summer had been heavily laden with fruit . He told me that he and his wife loved them but they had too many . We agreed that we could only eat so many apple pies or crumbles . We could not continue to eat baked apple after baked apple . I apologised and admitted that I had picked up a number of windfalls during the season and had stuffed them in my pocket to take home. I admitted that I loved them and had enjoyed them . He smiled and told me to pick them next year if I wanted any and went inside , talked to his wife and came out with a large bag of apples for me to carry home .
The weather may have been grim and Covid was still affecting us but those apples made me smile . A lovely gesture from a very nice man . Those apples did taste good . And the rest of the day was spent writing Christmas cards and getting them delivered .
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Jackie
non-member comment
Spain
And thoughts of us driving down to Spain in January are also at an end because France wont let us in now!! I suppose we could always fly.....wait and see.......sigh......its so boring!! Its not as if we have loads of years left - and I hate wasting them doing nothing!! Hope you are all ready for christmas? We are supposed to be going to my daughter and familys house and then on boxing day we have my Mum and Dad along with my son & partner for lunch! In theory!!! lol