Moving quietly into 2021 and out of Europe.

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A new month and a new year, January 2021 has sneaked in quietly in our house. I didn’t even stay up to see the New Year in. Having listened to news broadcasts at 11.00 about how we were now properly out of Europe - Katya Adler reporting from Brussels with her lipstick exactly colour-matching her coat!! - I decided to take myself off to bed with a book. I heard fireworks over a longish time before and after midnight and was only woken once by someone pinging New Year’s greetings. Maybe all my friends and relations had gone tombed early as well. 

In fact most greetings this morning are all along the lines of “let’s hope we can get together before too long”. We’ll just have to see how 2021 pans out.

Personally I began the year by snoozing my alarm not once but twice before I made myself leave my bed and go for a run around the village. (My daughter wants to be able to snooze her youngest child who wakes her far too early in the morning! An extra ten minutes is all the mother of a small child needs - if we could invent a mechanism we could become rich!) Very few people were out and about - one who had clearly done his shopping and another with his dachshund in a sausage-dog shaped coat. The makers of dog clothes must have been doing well - I see so many small dogs better dressed than some people.

Now that we have “got Brexit done” and most of the country is in various stages of lockdown, what will our news broadcasters find to report on?

Here’s a sad little animal story from Germany, reported last Monday;-

“Police and firefighters in Germany were forced to intervene to move an apparently “mourning” swan that was blocking a high-speed railway line, according to a statement released by the rescuers on Monday.

The swan was pictured blocking the line near Fuldatal, causing at least 20 trains to be cancelled, after a second swan was killed when it flew into the overhead line above the tracks.

After the accident the second swan settled on the railway tracks below, preventing trains from passing on the route from Kassel to Göttingen. According to reports in local media, firefighters brought in specialist equipment to remove the dead swan from the overhead lines and the second swan from the tracks, taking it to the Fulda river where it was released.

According to police, 23 trains were delayed by around 50 minutes in the incident, which happened on 23 December but was only revealed five days later.

It has been observed before that swans apparently mourn their mates, with the birds remaining near the site of another’s death.”

That’s loyalty for you. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!