Thursday 31 December
New Year’s Eve
“New Year’s Eve is not a Christian festival. That was why it was never observed at Wake’s End. Or rather, Father never observed it. The servants did. They knew that New Year’s Eve is of the utmost importance because what happens then determines what will happen in the forthcoming year. They also knew that you must be especially careful around midnight, because whatever you’re doing at that time is what you’ll be doing for the next twelve months. This is why you have to keep all the fires blazing, and you mustn’t break anything, or lend money, or cry. You mustn’t wear black, as black betokens mourning. Nor must you fall asleep before the turn of the year, because sleep is akin to death. It’s also vital not to take anything out of the house on New Year’s Eve; that includes rubbish, ashes from the grate, and even potato peelings. You have to wait until you’ve let out the Old Year by opening the back door, and then let in the New by opening the front. Only in this way can you be assured of a good year. Only in this way can you know that the luck of the house has been retained.”
It’s a pretty clear message. It comes from the book Wakenhyrst that I read earlier in the year. But, going on the way the last year has panned out, I’m not going to take any risks. I intend to be as benevolent, kind, hopeful and happy as I possibly can tonight. I will not argue, talk politics, brexit or the Coronavirus. And I certainly will not fall asleep before the clock strikes midnight.
It’s going to be a quiet affair. An opportunity to wave a hearty farewell to 2020. We do not want a repeat of this past year, but fear we will have to face the left overs for a few months of 2021. One thing I am sure about, I will not take ‘normal’ for granted when it returns.
The day started with work and a swiftly scheduled meeting, via Google Meet, to clarify our response to the government’s announcements yesterday. Reopening schools next week has become a much more complex matter depending on which tier the school is in based on its geographical location. All schools in Essex are in Tier 4, but then it differs again if you are a school in a region that is deemed part of the ‘contingency framework’. I just hope we have enough staff to keep the learning sharp and the pupils safe.
I went for a fabulous walk today. Keeping to the higher ground to avoid soggy paths and flooded fields. Stratford St Mary – Hutton – East Bergholt and circular back to the start.
It has stayed frosty all day out in the fields and on the stretches of water. There is still some flooding of fields from the overflow of the Stour, crusting over smooth sheets of ice-glass on top and crucnhy frosted ice crystals at the edges. The blades of grass are also fringed in cold white.
The air was still and heavy. The shiveringly cold moisture weighing down every breath. But the fresh air was good and the views of Dedham vale were stunning, particularly as I had never viewed it from the opposite side before.
The fields seem to have been abandoned right now. It’s like the farmers have lost interest in them. Muddy, stubbled, untidy looking. But soon, thankfully, the piles of steaming good-stuff dumped in the middle of fields will be ploughed into the soil. Feeding the land ready for seed to be sown and the magic to happen in the spring.
The Bald Birder 