Hold on to your favourite hat, it's holiday time!
Where will you be celebrating the turn of the year?
Seasons Greetings!
Here we are at St Pancras station, London, with the iconic statue of Sir John Betjeman, poet and wit, a man who loved architecture and trains, who struggled academically yet was prolific with words.
Betjeman died in May 1984. I remember him being interviewed on TV towards the end of his life. When asked if he had any regrets, he replied, not enough sex. A candid response that stayed with me; it’s a reminder to make the most of what time we have, however we want to spend it!
His poetry is accessible, not too dense, and easy to read aloud. I didn’t know until I looked up his bio, that he was taught at school by the poet T S Eliot. What a great beginning for any wordsmith!
But I digress from the main purpose of this post, which is to wish you all a happy and healthy festive season. How will you be celebrating? Will you be travelling? Do let me know in the comments below. ⬇️
Here is my Gift to You
My work with the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, on the ‘Love in Later Life’ project culminated in the production of the Getting On anthology. Please enjoy!
Festive Fun and Quiet? Nights In
We’ll be having a family Christmas at home with friends joining us for the New Year. So the house is decorated, the trees (indoors and outdoors) are up and sparkling with fairy lights, and presents are packed and ready. We hide them until Christmas Eve then put them out when the children are in bed… they’re teenagers now so I think we might need a new strategy because they go to bed rather late these days!
Christmas Day is all about food and drink, opening presents in the morning, taking a walk in the afternoon, playing games in the evening. Boxing Day much the same.
New Year’s Eve is for partying and I’ll be up past my bedtime to toast the new year in. Here in Scotland this night—Hogmanay—is famous for being celebrated in exuberant style and, with many local customs and traditions, it’s often a highlight in the calendar.
Where will you be celebrating the turn of the year?
Let’s Finish with Poetry
This is an extract from John Betjeman’s Advent, 1955.
The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It’s dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver-pale.
The world seems traveling into space,
And traveling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound —
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
Credits and Links:
Top image: my own. British sculptor, Martin Jennings, is responsible for creating this statue which was unveiled in 2007.
For the poem in full see the Betjeman Society page.
I don’t want to wish the days away but I’m excited for 2026! See my plans for Home and Place Writing in this post:
Just getting around to reading this now, and what a gift! plus Betjeman. Joy. Thank you, Yasmin. All the very best for the new year.
I so hope you and yours enjoy a fabulous holidays together. We will be doing much the same on this side of the pond. Minus the Boxing Day, of course. Also, my second favorite poet of all time is TS Eliot so I’m looking forward to reading more of his student’s work. Thanks for sharing.