The Seven Phases of the Year

Happy new 2022, everyone. The year is 11 days old and already, I feel the absence of that first flush of optimism that arises when the midnight bells ring it in. And that is the first phase of the new year. The next phase is the realisation that we are all still in the middle of a cold and gloomy winter, and that three months stand between us and more clement weather. Phase three comes about, at last, as fluffy lambs skip and gambol in green fields and the bells ring again, this time for Easter. Phase four, and the first heat wave of the year sends us all scudding for the sun block and the straw hats. And phase five is the following, cooler weather when we troop to work and college, kicking up mounds of crisp, fallen leaves as we walk. Phase six sees short, dark days and long nights, tales of ghouls and ghosts around bonfires. And phase seven is Christmas time once more, when the year turns once again and we all anticipate a better (Covid-free?) year, as we hope this one will be. Happy 2022, everyone.