New Year - Forget resolutions - Do something.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

 

Couldn't have put it better myself. Thank you to Tennyson.

A peaceful New Year to all my friends & readers.

Christmas in Malta - Poinsettia Heaven.

I think I have overdosed on Poinsettias! They must grow them in Malta & they were arranged in serried ranks in our very nice hotel & every church & most shops too. I had no idea that they have traditional relgious associations. Red - Blood - Obvious really, except that Christmas is the birth not the death. It all started in 16th C Mexico apparently. I don't think I'll be able to have one in my house ever again now!

The Maltese are big on Crib scenes too & have ginormous ones in churches, shops & seemingly almost every household's window. Actually it was quite nice to be in a country which takes the real meaning of Christmas seriously. Children dressed as angels and shepherds processed a crib with a baby Jesus through the streets round our hotel on Christmas Eve. It was lovely, but I can't see it happening in the UK really.

The sun shone every day but one. There is an impressive back story of history & pre-history going back to 3,500 - 5,000 BC. The buildings are beautiful. Many are in dire need of restoration - I was tempted, but installing a new kitchen in the UK has put me off somewhat!

The bus & ferry service is amazing and extremely cheap. You can get anywhere including the outer islands. What's not to like about that? We have a lot to learn about an integrated transport policy - Oh yes, but we haven't got one have we?

Our hotel was great. Seafront room with balcony & glorious views over the harbour to Valletta. The similarity to Venice was striking. They drive on the right & speak English, which is just as well because I just couldn't get the hang of Malti.

Possibly one of the best non Christmases I've ever had.

Fashion & City Life.

Because Oxford has such a diverse & shifting population - Town & Gown + Tourists & Students, it's possibly more than usually interesting from the sartorial perspective. It's also very stratified in terms of income, reflected in where exactly you live. There are some extremely wealthy people, particularly in North Oxford. On the other hand some areas are really quite deprived. It's also very cosmopolitan with a very ethnically mixed population.

One tries not to gawp, but you can see everything from bag ladies to very expensively turned out mothers of children who attend one or other of the independent schools. It's a reflection of the UK now - the "haves" have so much they can buy anything, the "have not's" struggle to make ends meet. In the middle are people like me.

There is a "bag lady" I see in Summertown, who apparently phones for a taxi when she has had her coffee & a fag in one of the pavement cafes. I have never seen her in any different clothes at any time of year. There are students who climb up to the top deck of the bus in skirts so short they leave nothing to the imagination. (Fortunately now it's winter they wear tights). It is weird when exams are on to see the university students flocking round town in their white bow ties & black gowns just like crows.

The tourists tend to wear gore tex & walking gear, except perhaps the ones staying in the Randolph or the Old Jail. They tend to be very smartly turned out & the women are beautifully made up. "Old money" and older academics really don't give a damn what they wear.

In the summer ball season the university students really go to town - literally. There is a hire shop on the Plain for those who can't afford to buy. Also in Summertown we have very posh charity shops which always have very special evening clothes for a fraction of the cost.

The myriad cyclists are a tribe of their own. They wear everything from cool & trendy lycra to "normal" clothes with high viz jackets. Everyone wears a helmet, but not everyone has lights on their bike, which strikes me as rather irrational. Being quite flat Oxford is best navigated on foot or by bike, so there are thousands of them.

It's often the shoes that identify which tribe you belong to. Trainers & basketball boots for the students. High heels for the fashionistas, (shiny polished brogues for the men), Walking boots & sensible shoes for the tourists.

 
I really think you could walk round the centre of Oxford wearing anything at all & not excite any attention. I am tempted, but haven't yet done it.

"We wish you a Merry" & "The Lost Sheep"

Readers will know I am not religious in the sense of believing in Christianity or any of the other Abrahamic religions. It will also be fairly obvious that I don't enjoy Christmas & would happily ignore it altogether. If it were a time of real reflection & thinking of others, rather than a commercialised bun fight, I might be persuaded to participate.

This year I will escape, I hope - to Malta for the whole Christmas week. No tinsel, no over indulgence, no unwanted presents. no sitting to the point of crying out for some real exercise & fresh air. So often Christmas is so steeped in family tradition no one thinks about what it's all for. We just don't want to upset someone else by selfishly breaking out & doing our own thing.

Well just for one year I am going to. I think I've earned the right to be selfish.

I wish everyone who enjoys it a very Happy Chrismas. I just think that many of us in the developed world are  "Lost Sheep".  We need to be brought back into the sustainable fold of community, sharing, equality, human dignity - where "each is given according to his needs". While we are gorging on an overdose of food, drink & "stuff" people are homeless, or ill, or alone & lonely.

Millions of people, including me, assuage their conscience by giving to charity. It is debatable how effective at tackling the underlying problems aid is. Tomes have been written on the subject. But if we have any spirit of human kindness we can't "walk by on the other side" in the face of a disaster. Help is needed quickly in order to save lives & provide food and shelter.

The spirit of giving & generosity is not dead. Sometimes it's just buried under self interest. We need the political will of the populus & the politicians to really identify the problems & come together to provide the solutions.

I hope it happens in my lifetime, but time is running out & I'm not optimistic.