The year of good things

Ah.. 2009. Finally.

A family from the village who are quite mad, adopted us for New Year. Well, the octagenarian mother who I shall name "Betty of the eggs", invited us to gatecrash her son's engagement party! Way to go girl!

Betty of the eggs is a passionate animal lover of note. We had invited her over for pre-New Year's eve drinks and she spoke of nothing else. I'm told every spare inch of her house is dedicated to dogs. Bones are not considered an outdoor thing. Oh but she does have sheets on her sofas! She gets up at 4.45am every morning, makes the dogs their sandwiches and then heads off, in the pitch dark, without a torch to walk the dogs on the golf course! And I'm talking PITCH dark! Winter freezing pitch dark. Cant see your hand in front of your face dark. How on earth she manages it the mind boggles. She can hardly walk without a stick. Has just had a second hip replacement. The first replacement still makes her wobble as the ligaments havnt healed or something or other. Ah but her joie de vivre, her nonchalance, her kindness is so refreshing.

My niece was invited out to see the horses shortly before midnight (they have rescue horses too) and picking her way through Betty of the eggs' half of the house confirmed that indeed, the house is overrun with dogs beds. In fact, quite impossible to get across the sitting room there are so many sleeping spots. Well, eccentric! pah! Her daughter-in-law to be was instantly accepted as she came complete with pet pig! Not an ordinary pig, a huge mother... hairy spotty black and white, squashed in face with tusks thing. A "rescue pig"! Oh my word! And I thought I was open minded. But this thing really was something! They took us out to see it in the freezing winter night. They had constructed a picture perfect pig's dolls house. Whilst they cooed at it and fed it bananas I had a surreal "what on earth am I doing" experience. No wonder the horses were terrified of it!

Anyway - you know what. 2008 was such a horrid time. Just so awful. That it was fitting to end it slightly off the wall.

I'm looking forward to 2009. We all have less money, so many of us had personal tragedies - sickness, deaths, sadness. Quite uncanny the hand that was dealt. But we have new blood amongst many of the world's politicians now - USA, Aus, France. OK some of those are old news. But it just feels like things are going to be better now. We have people to lead us who will do better for humanity. We will be less greedy because we dont have as much money to throw around - so perhaps we will become more generous, more loving, more in balance. We had the Queen's speech and a speech from Iran's president Amna Dinajad (argh! No idea how to spell that, I need to swat up! Dad would be shocked!). It was for me so significant to have these two people sending profound messages of wisdom to the world. Both of them focussing essentially on centering our lives. Being less egocentric. Respect for others. My head was saying Yes! Yes! Its time now. We are ready.

So, I approach 2009 not quite knowing what the point of life on earth is about. Dad's death has made me deeply deeply philosophical. Less scared of my own death. In a way, calmer. And, as if in a dream, I approach the new year, floating, ready. Sad, but just ok and a bit excited too!