So, what have we all been doing this week?
I’m sure many of us have been doing the same which is precisely nothing! I’m exaggerating, we have been getting up from the TV now and then to get something from the fridge or refill our glass!
One day this week, I watched My Fair lady, West Side Story and Paddington 2 and cried at them all. What a waste of time, you might say, but honestly it was lovely. I can never relax for that long normally, usually preferring an hour-long TV programme to even one film.
There were some lovely TV shows on as well. I loved watching the Royal Christmas Concert from Westminster Abbey. I’m a bit biased but I thought Leona Lewis looked and sounded wonderful. And who knew that the Duchess of Cambridge could play the piano? She did well accompanying Tom Walker and looked so regal and perfect in her red coat and dress.
I did feel a bit sorry for Ellie Goulding who seemed so nervous like she was singing a solo at a school concert; maybe it was following Leona that was the problem but we singers have all been there. We start nervously and just can’t get comfortable. When she started to take breaths in the middle of words, the singing teacher in me just wanted to teach her some breath control.
So, what has 2021 brought to us all?
Well, we didn’t get off to a very good start. Almost a year to the day, we went into our third national lockdown. Even though many families had stayed apart at Christmas 2020, it wasn’t enough to prevent us being advised to stay at home again.
There was hope though, because the first vaccinations were being rolled out and we could cling on to that as our route back to normality.
However, within weeks, variants of concern were appearing and our spirits were as low as they had been since the pandemic began.
But there were more to come. The Delta variant caused concern in July and social distancing rules, which were due to be lifted, remained.
At least it was summer, and we could all begin to socialise outside. But as winter approached there was talk of the NHS being under pressure yet again, and when Omicron appeared I think that was perhaps the final straw for our morale as a country.
So where are we now as 2022 arrives? Are we back to square one or are we at a place where we have learned to live with Covid, albeit with masks and vaccinations and a changed way of life?
If I’m still writing this column this time next year it will be interesting to see where we are by then.
However, it’s not all been doom and gloom. We have had some interesting and funny happenings in 2021 despite, or sometimes because of, the pandemic.
We all remember the hilariously angry men on the Zoom call of the parish council when Jackie Weaver became a household name for standing up to them.
Even funnier was when a very serious courtroom case in Texas went viral when a lawyer had a talking cat on his Zoom screen instead of himself.
And talking of incredible happenings can we really believe that Prince Harry and Meghan did that embarrassing interview with Oprah Winfrey?
All families have fall outs and disagreements, but even if Oprah Winfrey wanted to talk about them I think most of us would choose not to air our dirty linen quite so publicly.
The year ended with a very poignant Queen’s speech where in the year she lost her beloved husband Philip, she chose to tell us how wonderful this modest man was, who hated compliments and would never have allowed her to do that while he was alive.
It showed her to be just like every other person who has lost the love of their life and is coping with their first Christmas without them.
She opened up more about her feelings in that one speech, I think, than she has ever done before.
That must have meant a lot to thousands of other people sitting at home feeling the same.
So whatever we have been through in 2021, let’s hope 2022 is a good one.
Let’s hope Ellie Goulding gets singing lessons, Jackie Weaver gets a job in the Cabinet, the Duchess of Cambridge gets a record deal and I personally just want not to see another mince pie for a very long time.
Much love to you all,
Yvie x
