Speeding Up

Only two more days before work breaks up for the year. Christmas looms, and I have no idea where the time has gone.  I swear time is speeding up each year.

In fact, and I recognise the ironay in using those words, I recently read a theory that time is really speeding up – label it under paranormal, pseudoscience etc.  But if it were true, we’d have no real way of measuring that, would we?  Maybe there is some quantum method by which scientists could.

I’m really looking forward to this break.  It’s been a tough year for a few reasons, and this down time is something I need.  Looking around at my colleagues, I suspect it’s something we all need.  But I’m not convinced the breaks recharge and revitalise is in quite the same way they used to. Or maybe it’s just me as I get older.

I’ve been back in the UK for more than 8 years now, and I enjoy the Christmas atmosphere here, with nights drawing in and festive lights visible from around 4pm.  Christmas is a winter festival, and makes a lot more sense here than it does in Australia. It feels right here.  And I look forward to it.

But I do wish I could catch up with my family and friends in Australia. That’s not going to happen this year, but maybe next year?

But onwards to the gifts, the food, and the wine.  Oh, and the time spent with family. Apparently that’s important too.

A Strange Christmas.

A strange festive season indeed.

We had a week or so of cold weather, with a very light snowfall, but apart from that it has been quite mild. A couple of days I've even been out in my t-shirt. 

But for some odd reason it just doesn't feel like Christmas. I don't know why this should be. Perhaps it's because I've hardly been in town, especially when the lights have been on. But we have our tree up, our cards on display, our decorations and so on. But I just don't feel Christmassy yet.

I have, against my better judgement, bought a Christmas jumper. I always vowed I wouldn't, but it is a thing here.  Maybe I'm acclimatising in more way than one.

I'm looking forward to the Christmas break. I hope to have a relaxing time. To refresh, recharge and renew.

Here's to a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It's Christmas, Jim, But Not As We Know It.

And so this is Christmas, and what have we done? Or, more to the point, what are we doing, and what are we going to do?

Last week I spent an even as a safety steward for Santa as he hauled his sleigh around the village raising money for charity. The week before I took part in the village nativity play in the local church. The tree and the decorations are up. Cards are displayed while others have been written and delivered. I've even done a bit of Christmas shopping, both in person and online.

But for every moment of Christmas normality, there is something Christmas under pandemic life. Work Christmas party was conducted online with everyone at home. There have been no Christmas drinks or catchups with friends and colleagues. And I have no reason to go into town in the evenings when the lights and displays are at their best.

As for Christmas day itself, we've been cautiously making plans. We knew the Prime Minister had announced that he wouldn't bring in any restrictions this year, but I don't think anyone can blame me if I didn't think this would stop him from reversing his decisions.

We planned for seven people, although there was the possibility of six. But then we were aware of circumstances that might bring in another three to make ten. Or even eleven. But what happens if County lines are closed, which could mean three.

So anywhere from three to ten people. What size turkey should we order for that range of guests?

In the end, the Prime Minister met with his Cabinet yesterday and made no decision. In hindsight, he was never going to make an unpopular decision for Christmas while his government is mired in a number of scandals and he's teetering on the edge of a leadership challenge anyway. Which  means Christmas should go ahead. Or will it? I have little confidence in the clarity and surety of events beyond this evening.

For now, at least, Christmas will be normal. Or as normal as it can be in the middle of a pandemic.

But whatever happens, whatever unfolds, however it is spent, enjoy your time. Relax, recharge and refresh, ready for 2022.

Merry Christmas.

It's Not Going Away Anytime Soon, Is It?

It was almost two years ago that we first heard of a new virus in China. I recall seeing it unfold in China, and while it was worrying, it wasn't something I thought would effect us too much. I mean, there had been SARS, and Ebola, and a few others. But each of these had been contained and geographically limited and controlled. And they were no longer a threat.

How wrong I was.

A few months later then world changed in ways we could never imagine. We were sent home to work, which I figured might be a month or two. Again, I was very, very wrong.

I've been back in my office about 4 times since then. All in the past few months. I saw some members of my team in real life for the first time in more than 18 months. I met the "new guy" who'd actually been with us for more than a year. The office was sterile. We'd taken all our personal items home a couple of months ago and the office was now a "hub", used by other teams as well.

On the one hand, I was happy to be around other people, and yet I didn't enjoy that as much as I should have. Is it because I'm not used to it yet, or simply that I am generally avoiding groups and gatherings anyway?

But I'm hearing whispers there may be another lockdown before Christmas. I'm hearing that we may be asked to not come into the office again, at least for a while. I'm also hearing Christmas may revert to bubbles only, limited meetings and numbers, and so on.

It's all unknown. It's constantly changing. And none of us can plan for Christmas because we're not being adequately informed. And, of course, some of us are starting to think this may still be a round next Christmas.

Lights on, trees up, masks at the ready!

Move Close To The Fireplace.

Winter is coming, which it is, and isn't any sort of reference to Game of Thrones.

It's getting colder, the days are getting shorter with dark mornings, and the leaves are falling. I've already had a couple of icy mornings where I've had to scrape the windscreen. Firewood has been delivered, which means the Chateau Cameron is cosy in the evenings, and we're eating more soups and stews than in the warmer months.

Christmas, as a festive season, seems more real here.  Growing up in Australia, Christmas always seemed out of place. I remember watching The Proposition, the Nick Cave film, a few years ago. It's a gritty Australian 'western' and is very much a commentary on the hostile landscape and environment in which the colonists and convicts lived. Here's the thing - they simply didn't belong, and I seem to recall dialogue along those lines. One scene that stands out is the family trying to have a traditional English Christmas lunch in 40c heat while being swarmed by flies. It belongs firmly in winter, and is very much a northern hemisphere festival.

Oh, and that in no way, shape or form suggests I never enjoyed Christmas in Australia.

But once again I am reminded of Marigold by Steeleye Span. (From the Sails of Silver album)

When the marigold no longer blooms
When summer sun is turned to gloom
See the forecast winter snow
See the evergreen that lonely grows
Move close to the fireplace
Neglect the garden
See the ground harden

At a ghostly place

The golden summer sun is silver now
The fruit has fallen from the bough
The season moves to chestnut time
Toffee apples, treacle and mulled wine
Quilts and furs and woolens gay
You wrap around you
But the cold confounds you
On an autumn day
Stout and strong the walls of home and hearth
Curtains drawn against the draft
The rake has reaped, the blade has mown
Nights draw in to call the harvest home
The quiet of a heart at rest
In peace abounded
By love surrounded

Here the home is blest

Welcome to 2019.

Happy New Year.

I've had a great break - a really relaxing time with family and friends. We didn't travel anywhere really, but managed to catch up with some people. Mostly we relaxed and ate great food. And I didn't over-eat or feel bloated.

The car decided to get a puncture on Christmas Eve, and of course they don't supply spare tyres anymore.  But this was a puncture where the spray can of foam stuff and nursing the car to the garage wasn't going to cut it. It meant, however, we either stayed at home or walked for a few days, which at this time of the year isn't necessarily a bad thing.

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet. We did stay up but went to bed shortly afterwards. I had too much to do on my secret project the next day to be up too late. And yes, I did get lots and lots done.

As I said in a recent post, I don't really do the whole resolution thing. I make my plans as I go, prioritising and re-prioritising as need be. I do have some plans for this year, one of which is to try and keep track of the books I read. I made a list a few years ago, just on a word document for myself, and if I can find it, I might even post it. This year, however, will be the only other time I have kept track of my reading. I've decided to add a page to this website and make the list public. Have look sometime.

I also plan to write more. You might even see some longer fiction emerging. You just never know.

But I have work to do now, and need to be gone from this page. All the best for the coming year.

Racing Around the Sun Again.

Another year is drawing to a close, and there is so much left undone. Not that I am one for resolutions, but like most people I have goals - either specific and planned, or vague and loose. I did complete some of my plans, but along the way other plans intruded in my life. And as I undertook those, other activites were pushed onto the backburner by necessity.

Yeah, that novel I never started at the beginning of the year never happened later either. And I doubt I'll have it done (or even commenced) by New Year.

I'm OK with that, because I have achieved other things this year I never thought I would. Big things. For reasons of my own, I'm not sharing these at the moment. One day, when the time is right, I will.

We've almost completed that arbitrarily designated end to yet another journey around the sun. Another year, another orbit, another winter.

It's getting darker and colder. I'm heading out to work and returning home with my headlights on. Soon it will be dark as I arrive and leave the office. For some people this is depressing. For me, and maybe because it's a bit of a novelty still, I enjoy it. It means Christmas is coming, and Christmas makes a lot more sense here than it ever did in Australia. The lights will be up in the streets, and we'll have warm cosy evenings snuggled around roaring fires.

Think about it. Christmas as a northern hemisphere celebration is out of place in Australia. Having experienced a few up here, it's obviously a transplant. I always enjoyed it, but it never felt right.

As out of place as a sausage sizzle at an English hardware store. Yeah, Bunnings tried that here and it failed. As did Bunnings as a store. They've pulled out of the UK, having bought Homebase for large sums of money and selling for next to nothing.

Guess I'll just have to go and buy a Bratwurst in a bread roll on the high street, all wrapped up in my scarf and jacket.

Another Christmas in the UK.

I've finished work for the break.

Most of the office went out for a Christmas lunch, which then extended into the evening until I left around 9pm to head home. I must say we had a fantastic time.

I really enjoyed the company of my colleagues. The whole atmosphere was very jovial and we had a lot of laughs. Somewhere in the evening I lost my car keys. It was crowded and someone knocked my work bag off a chair. I didn't realise the keys were gone until I was about to head home. I checked but couldn't find them. Apparently they were handed in five minutes after I left and I managed to retrieve them the next morning.

Hardly the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

Christmas in the UK is still one of my favourite things. People wear Christmas Jumpers - which isn't a thing in Australia. Most of us wear t-shirts at that time of year. But here it gets dark early, the lights are on, and it feels like Christmas is supposed to feel.

It's all very cosy and festive and seems right.

We have family visiting Lincoln for Christmas and Boxing Days, and I can't wait.  Yes, for the family, but mostly because I really enjoy Christmas lunches.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you're not hearing Wham's Last Christmas in the shops too often.

A Down Under Merry Christmas.

Peace on Earth, goodwill to all.

I saw this somewhere yesterday, probably in a shop window or something. Quite a good sentiment but the cynical side of me questions its attainability. (attainableness?)

Christmas is traditionally seen as a Christian event, although now it's generally accepted as being more widespread than that. I'm not one of those that thinks carols should be banned because they contain a Christian message, or that we should say 'Happy Holidays' instead of Merry Christmas. Leave the tradition as it is, and accept it for what it is.

I grew up in a church environment, although that's not where my beliefs lie now. Each year I look forward to the Christmas season and enjoy its sense of goodwill.

Now all we have to do is extend that feeling to the rest of the year.

Merry Christmas to all.

The Calm Before The Storm.

A short post this week, mostly because I've been a tour guide for visiting relatives (from the U.K.) and haven't had much time to sit down and write anything. I'm currently sitting in the kitchen typing this and it's still early and quiet. Only my brother-in-law beat me up, but I think he's jet-lagged still. He's on another laptop writing emails to home. Business? Family? Friends?  I have no idea, but even in holiday mode on the other side of the world life goes on around us.

We've been out and about a bit checking out the native animals and local sights. It's a strange thing to see these familiar things through the eyes of first time visitors. There's a freshness, a new appreciation that fills me and inspires me.

The others have started rising now, and the house is no longer quiet. They're bustling, and trying to engage us in conversation while we'd like just another half hour of peace and quiet. And in an hour or so we'll all be off on another day of adventures.

My holidays are off to a great start. How about yours?

Christmas, Decisions And Tantrums.

It's closing in on the end of the year.  I've already heard Christmas carols in shops, and seen Christmas commercials on TV. Far too early, in my book. There's still five or six weeks to go which is more than ten percent of the year.

Bah, humbug!

I've already commenced planning for next year at work. I had to make decisions about which 'positions of responsibility' I would apply for, and then submit an application. These are extra roles to my classroom teaching, but we have to take one on anyway.

A tough decision had to be made. Fortunately I think I made the right choice. I feel good about it, anyway. And that's a start.

My horoscope, which I don't usually even look at, told me that in order to have success I needed to make demands and throw a tantrum. I asked my boss if he thought that was a good idea. He seemed bemused, for a moment, then said it was an idea - not necessarily a good one.

I decided not to yell.

We're on the downward run of 2013. Of course I haven't achieved half the things I planned to this year, but that's OK. I achieved a bunch of things I didn't expect to.

But it does feel as though the years are speeding up. I have a good feeling about 2014.

Why Are They Called Deadlines?

Christmas was quiet, which was great. We had a lot of fun and lots of great food.

How was your Christmas?

This week I am overwhelmed with ideas and excited by possibilities. Unfortunately my free time is limited and deadlines approach.

Writing and re-writing must be done.

I can't talk right now, just be sure I'm working. :)

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas.

While I don't like the commercial aspects of Christmas (and I have taken big steps to minimise my financial involvement) it is a time of year I do quite enjoy.

Here in Australia, Christmas is bang in the middle of summer. Christmas lights don't really work to create a cheery atmosphere when they aren't effectively visible until 9 p.m.  Roasts and plum puddings aren't the ideal fare for days around 40C. Cards with snow-covered buildings and fat men in red, fur-lined suits don't remind me of anything festive at all. And don't get me started on the awful renditions of carols that supermarkets seem to play. Perhaps they get them really cheap.

I have to say my most memorable Christmases were the ones I spent in the U.K. Everything makes a whole lot more sense when it's cold, snowy and dark by 4.30 p.m.

My English wife simply can't correlate longer, hotter days and lighter evenings with the end of the year. It just feels 'wrong' to her.  One of my best friends, however, commented a few days ago that now we've had some really hot days it's starting to feel like Christmas.

I know what he means. I guess I used to feel like that too. But once I had spent time in Europe during this time of year I was able to recognise where certain elements of the Christmas tradition really belong.

For me, it'll be the chance to spend some quiet time with my wife and friends. And that's what Christmas it truly about.

Deck The Halls. Again.

Due for international launch next Thursday, 6th December, the eMergent anthology Deck the Halls includes my story, Softly Sing The Stars.  (Edited by Jodi Cleghorn with fabulous art by Andrew McKiernan).

Some of you might recognise this from a previous post about six months ago, and claim the anthology has already been released. That's true - it was released in July but only in Australia. This time it's available beyond our Summer shores.

Each of the thirty-two writers riffed off a line from the carol, Deck The Halls. The second last line, Sing this joyous, all together, was the basis for my SF story. My good friend and fellow traveller David McDonald, wrote his story, Through Wind and Weather, from the final line, Heedless of the wind and weather.

Not only is this a fabulous collection of stories, but with its Christmas theme it's ideal as a gift. It's available here.

 Table of Contents:

Touched - Rowena Specht-Whyte
Drench the School - Benjamin Solah
Coming Home - Rebecca Dobbie
While You Were Out - Sam Adamson
Twenty-Five - Rebecca Emin
A Jolly Pair - Christopher Chartrand
Gays and Commies - Graham Storrs
A Better Fit - Jen Brubacher
Salvation - Nicole R Murphy
A Troll for Christmas - Jo Hart
Modraniht - Kate Sherrod
Bosch’s Book of Trolls - Susan May James
‘Til Death Do Us Part - Emma Kerry
High Holidays - Dale Challener Roe
The Headless Shadow - Jonathan Crossfield
End of a Tradition - Paul Servini
Weatherboy - Nik Perring
Not a Whisper - Lily Mulholland
Lords of the Dance - Janette Dalgliesh
Through Frosted Glass - Laura Meyer
Midsummer’s Eve - Stacey Larner
Yuletide Treasure - Rob Diaz II
Broken Angel - Jodi Cleghorn
A Golden Treasure - Chia Evers
Fast Away - Jim Bronyaur
Apprentices to Time - Icy Sedgwick
Unfolding - Alison Wells
Egg-Ceptional - PJ Kaiser
Hail the New - Trevor Belshaw
Perfect Light - Dan Powell
Softly Sing the Stars - Steve Cameron
Through Wind and Weather - David McDonald

A Mixed Bag.

After a week of waiting followed by a week of good news, this week's news has been mixed. Some good, some not so good.

I reported last week that one of my stories had been sold - which was great, and I'm still very excited about that. It was a market I'd long hoped to crack (more news when I can) and a story that I had high hopes for.

The following day, however, a different story at another market I've long hoped to crack (with a story that I was almost certain they would take) was rejected. And with it my self confidence plummeted for a day or so. It's funny how it affects you like that. Don't worry. It's already subbed out elsewhere, and I know it's a good story that will find a good home.

So I was surprised when yet another market that I've long hoped to crack (Yeah, I have a list of about 5 semi-pro markets I'm aiming to 'infiltrate') placed a hold on a story that I thought had absolutely no chance there.

Now all they have to do is love it enough to buy it.

By the middle of the week things had definitely taken a downward turn, when I read that Paul Haines, my mentor and friend, had announced that he had reached the end of his writing career. Paul's cancer seems to have stepped up its attack on his body. And like so many others, I send my love and positive vibes to Paul, Jules and Isla and wish him well.

By the weekend a feeling of dread overtook me, as I realised I had to finish writing my students' reports by Monday. Slightly ahead of marking, it's the one thing I hate about teaching. But everything in life is a compromise, and if I want to teach, then I have to assess and report. Sigh.

But yesterday my wife and I put up our Christmas tree, and spent a few hours making pickled onions. And last night, as I sat in the darkened living room watching a DVD with my wife and two dogs, glancing over occasionally at the twinkling lights in the corner, smelling strangely of onions and pine, I realised how little I have to unhappy about.

And despite the rejections from markets that I considered a 'sure thing', my writing and publishing is moving up.