We’re on the outer lip of the seasonal festivities. The week between December 24th and December 31st is first-rate. Though we do nothing traditional on either Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve the entire period is diverting and signal. Nobody can deny the universal absorption in colour and congeniality that overtakes us all. Last night I lingered at the window mesmerized by the shimmering tiny white lights in the swaying fronds of the palm trees by the pool. The prospect of entering the year 2020 is a touch of heaven! The New Year affords the gusto of novelty.

I confess I am a sucker for fresh beginnings! By which I mean nothing dynamic, just refreshing, brushing my teeth, a clean shirt, a dip in the pool, a bicycle ride or a mug of strong black coffee. I am bucked by the cool morning air, the sunshine and my watch, “5:00 – 6:00 PM Cocktails at Diana’s and Ziggy’s“.

Meanwhile it’s the whiff of rich swamp gas at a corner of Bayfront Park. There is a young family of three generations on the dock, casting fishing lines, hysterical when the youngest claims to have caught something. The sun darts in and out between the racing clouds. There are undoubtedly family plans on the immediate horizon. Two fishing boats of an unusually commercial nature motor by with equally curious purpose. It is a day of limited objective, further diluted by the knowledge that New Year’s Day is always closed for business, the pinnacle of idleness!

This is the incalculable annual release from ambition, the natural promotion of reflection and generosity, the cleansing of the past, the direction to new channels and thankfulness for what we have. I intend to send out my New Year’s emails very soon, before the day expires, before we’re looking back instead of looking forward, before time lapses for another year.