Here we are again, we march bravely (I hope) into 2017. Traditionally we will have been bombarded by the media examining 2016 and making predictions for the New Year. On past experience almost all of the latter will be wrong. We will be told how the retail sector has fared during the Big Spend and conclusions will be drawn about the health of the economy. Again, almost all will be incorrect.
My mind goes back to the past of course, it's the occupational disease of the historian. I can remember times during the war when, even though I was young, I knew that the prospects were not good. Nightly trips into the Anderson Shelter in the garden to escape the bombing (we hoped!) reinforced our disquiet. I console myself that things are far better now but still look ahead with some trepidation because as we all know, many things could be better. There is only one thing to do, 'always look on the bright side of life'!
We have many reasons to be grateful, the vast majority of us are in better shape than at any time before. At the same time we should remember those who are not so lucky and hope against hope that 2017 could see some common sense come back into governance and these ills can be partially addressed. There are signs that this may be happening. The good thing is that many of my friends are well aware of the problems and I get the feeling that a head of steam is building up in the country to demand less concentration on vanity projects and more attention to the state of society, I hope so.
My mother had a saying, she used to tell us to get on with our own knitting! It puzzled me at times but now I understand what she meant. We have to attend to our own needs first, look after ourselves and the family and do useful things! Writing these articles is one of my positive efforts. I get enough feed-back to know that many of you are diverted by them each week but I also know that sometimes I raise hackles when I get on one of my hobby-horses! Sorry about that but you can't please all of the readers all of the time.
My picture this week is very personal. It's probably my major escape in life, messing about in my Shed making steam engines. Not everyone's bag I know but the two hours a day I spend concentrating on fiddly little tasks is incredibly satisfying. Many of you take different routes but will know what I mean. My daughter Susan does what I call 'extreme knitting', fiendishly complicated patterns that stretch her to the limit. All I know is that I could no more do that than she could make a steam engine! So today's message is when things look bad, get on with your knitting. That way lies a degree of sanity. All the best for 2017!
The cylinder for my latest engine.
