January 2021 1.1.21: As I thought, after a late night I slept well and cosily and that was despite Brexit finally being done. So, I made a cuppa and read the papers online. No prizes for guessing the two main topics.Just took it easy while listening to some of the Archers' 70th anniversary programmes. This afternoon Michel and Martine came around for a much needed bit of social contact, tea, cake and chocolate goodies. To round it all off before the curfew kicked in, Martine and I had a couple of glasses of cava. Michel had more restraint and stuck to tea which wasn't even a New Year's resolution!
New Year phone calls and organised a dental appointment. Once again Françoise rescued me from a day holed up inside with a walk overlooking the sea with Michelle who we met there. And weren't we the lucky ones ... there was blue sky and sunshine. Over the mountains it was a different story; very dark clouds and apparently the road at the top of the valley over the col into Spain was closed to traffic. Sign of things to come?
forecast, I'll get up when the church clock chimes next, I'll get up ........eventually!" Well, I did and spent what was left of the morning reading the papers. Imagine my surprise, when I saw a headline on the front page of the local paper saying that a "grandama" in the village had been stabbed by her grandson and was in critical. Have since found out who it was and I know her. Also did a wee bit more for tomorrow's appointment. And what do you know; the paper from HMRC arrived in this morning's post. I just love it when things come together. Rather than laze around this afternoon, I contacted Françoise about a walk. For a change we went set off from hers. Super views of snow topped Canigou against a back drop of blue sky. What's not to like.
7.1.21: There was no staying under the duvet this morning; the tax inspector awaited. All was fine and therefore a weight off my mind. JJ came back for a coffee and catch up after which I made some soup and did a large number of puzzles with Peak Practice burbling in the background. Yeah, yeah, you can't say anything I haven't said to myself!
8.1.21: Had an early walk with Françoise so as to make the most of the sunshine. Canigou as usual looked splendid with snow reaching lower down. How lucky am I.
10.1.21: Chez Dominique and Marylise for an apéro.
wasn't too late before I got up. I'd abandoned the papers in favour of getting a pile of correspondence ready to go out to the Post Office. Best laid plans and all that, Nicole called around for coffee and a chat; a long chat even! By the time she left, I had just enough time to heat up some lunch before meeting Françoise who was accompanied by Hélène and Sonia, whom I didn't know and Michelle who I met for the first time last week on the coast walk. Snow at altitude and underfoot in places on the back track walk along with an intense blue sky made the scenery more glorious than ever. See, I can get myself off the sofa sometimes.
20.1.21: Apart from a visit to Jeanne's with JJ to help deal with a problem with a house she's buying, it's been another non eventful day for me. For Joe Biden, that's another story. To everyone 's relief, his inauguration with his passionate speech went without any violence. Trump took his ball and went home to Florida to sulk rather than follow tradition and attend the ceremony. What a crass ignoramus, but we already knew that. Below is the moving poem written and read by Amanda Gorman follows. Truly inspiring which has motivated me to include it here.
The Hill We Climb Amanda Gorman
When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice. And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
This effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. This is the era of just redemption.
We feared it at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked, “How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?” now we assert, “How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?”
We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: A country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change, our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left. With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the west.
We will rise from the wind-swept north-east where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country, our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
21.1.21: Had an early lunch to be in time to meet Françoise for a walk. Met up with Michelle, Sonia and Hélène at Paullilles. In a previous life, this was where Nobel had a dynamite factory and is now preserved as an historic site and park. Walked up through the vines and along a high costal path. Great scenery all around; pity it was overcast but hey, can't have perfection all the time.
22.1.21: A trip to the dentist made a not exactly welcome change to my morning routine. Sharing my pot of tea with Jacques and Michel made a much more welcome change to my afternoon routine. This evening however, was the same as usual.
23.1.21: Coffee at the market with Françoise and Jean then JJ went along to Jacques' for a lunch that lasted until curfew time
24.1.21: Had a blowy walk with Françoise along the coastal path between Collioure and Port Vendres. A rugged coastline, clear waters, remains of 2WW and 17th centuary fortifications and a swimmer emerging onto the rocks from the sea! No accounting ..... Ended up driving the narrow road to the lighthouse for a final breath of fresh air and a night behind closed doors at home.
25.1.21: The post brought some joy this morning in the form of my post brexit resident's card so that's another bit of administration sorted.
27.1.21: Walked for 2 hours at a goodly pace with Jacques which made up for yesterday's dawdle.
31.1.21: Read the papers and pottered until it was time to meet Nicole to walk over to Ken's for a curry lunch complete with mango chutney and lime pickle. There was, what I guess will be the last galette of the season for dessert, so it was a good job that we went over to the lake for a walk. Walked back home and to undue all the good I'd done, I sat on the sofa for the rest of the evening.
