Happy new year! Here’s to love, connection and time with those we love.

 2021 we had such hopes for you. But we should have known by then. Covid was a constant backdrop to our lives. Vaccines offered so much hope with good reason and yet freedom did not feel secure. Plans were rarely more than tentative. We delayed bookings and failed to rebook until later in the year. A summer plan became autumn and instead of warmth we had the glory of Scotland’s colours, rust brown and gold trees called out to us. Look we are here they say, and we hold our presence as your calling. 

Scotland you own us with your beauty and your message of ‘you are home’ speaks straight to our souls. These souls starved of touch, of company of comfort and of love. How could we resist your promise of presence, of the comfort of the familiar, of safety we assumed but ultimately who can promise so much in such times of uncertainty. 

As Christmas approached we thought, this year will offer so much. Christmas with family and New Year with friends exploring new territory, new traditions, new plans. But covid had the omicron variant up its sleeve. No smug acceptance of our future after all. Maybe you are milder, I do hope so. But the truth is the management of omicron is less about us as individuals but about the challenge for communities, organisations, the wider public health. The reactions from people range from who cares to recognising that  it’s vital to go upstream and protect the existing community. 

What future do we seek we ask? Is it  everyone for themselves or is it that this is a shared challenge and shared responsibility.to find the end to the challenge of covid. My sense is that this will not end properly until we accept the need to think community rather than self. So my biggest hope for 2022 is happier and healthier communities and individuals. 

So welcome 2022.My hope is that we see more of our loved family and friends, we miss you. And if covid has taught us anything, it’s that what matters most is love, connection and time together. 

Happy new year all. Stay safe and well and make time for those you love. 

See you next year! 

Audrey 

For Rosa

 

For Rosa

Rosa,her smile tells stories

straight to the heart.

She speaks in two languages;

signing illustrating her emotions,

spoken words the context 

for us who are awed by her.

That stride off to nursery

with no hesitation.

She knows none of the 

fear her parents hold.

But for noticing that

they hold her a little too tight.

Omicron-a benign name

Like a young sister of a unicorn maybe?

Magical almost- except-except

The truth is that it’s another viral variant

Spreading its tentacles across

our city, the country, the world a renewed threat

to our lives and our well-being.

For Rosa much of her life so far

has danced between the full colour version

then back to the greyed out 

Lockdown version.

Play boxed away into homes

Fearful of a virus that doesn’t 

only change lives-it threatens to take life.

There’s the fear, not captured in Rosas short memory

but for her Mum and Dad its very real

sitting by her bed.

An orchestra of sounds and light

the hospital machines symphonies

tell of laboured breath

and blue lights.

It’s just an extra chromosome after all?

But every time the virus rises up

So does the fear.

It’s only a mild illness -for you maybe!

Why bother with masks or isolating?

It’s for that smile.

It’s for life in all its colours.

It’s for Rosa.