& would you look at that? Already, January has been and gone; her little sister February held us under her chilly, misty sway and now 2011 has moved off into a thus far bright and beamish (if a little crisp at night) March. The daffs are out in force, crocus bedeck every scrap of common and municipal lawn and I’ve even seen people drinking rosé in the pub. Spring is on the way gentleladies and men!
But... (and this has nothing to do with the fact that I am an early month baby)I do feel for January and February. The first is a little-loved month all too susceptible to gloom, be it born of the weather or that general miasma that grips humanity post Christmas. People are a bit dejected, a bit jaded in Jan; bills and credit statements rear their ugly heads, scales tell tales of festive excess and every other person seems to be doing battle of King Arthur / Black Knight proportions with their conscience, after solemnly pledging themselves to the life of Benedictine Monk via this absurd tradition of ‘New Years Resolutions.’
Then February roles around, usually with a tantalising rise in the mercury and sunlight hours that raises hopes and hearts nationwide, only to dash them one final time against the craggy peaks of pure winter. There’s always the Valentines question, which rears the Hamlet in all of us, be we single or turtle-doved up. General rancor accompanied by chronic indigestion if you’re part of the first party versus those frantic ‘ohmygod’ feelings that always accompany a big test (remember school exams?) if you’re part of the second. And still, for most, those ABSURD resolutions continue to play despot with our lives.
Yes, absurd. I throw the word around liberally. No, I’m not being deliberately obtuse or controversial, poking a sleeping crocodile in the eye with a toothpick just to have everyone’s unequivocal attention. I have a genuine, intellectual disagreement with NYR’s as opposed to a woolly antagonism borne more of a desire to be contrary than fact. Let me explain.
I agree that post-Christmas, we all probably need to drink less and exercise more - but isn’t that what the festive holidays are all about? Eat, drink and be merry good people - you have toiled and sweated for your family and selves this long year. These brief few weeks in December are for your, so enjoy - especially as the rest of winter is yet to come. & yet, at the ringing in of the new year (& perhaps spurred on by an ill-advised Countdown snog) people are swearing off (usually cold turkey) everything they’ve indulged to excess in.
I am not advocating a continuance of Christmas excess: champagne popped before your soft egg is boiled; rich lunches that roll into tactical afternoon ‘breaks’ (a.k.a. nap-time); goose, stuffing and flaming puddings for dinner; for breakfast; crass cracker jokes, cigars and cognac only, after 9p.m. My beef is with those that martyr themselves through celery-stick diets and crack-of-dawn fitness regimes on par with a spartan soldiers who then have the cheek to spend the term of these early months so crotchety that they could have been knitted by the witch in the gingerbread house into the most hideous, itchiest woolly jumper going. You are only reaping what you sow, fools!
Surely, it makes far more sense to wait for spring, when the evenings are lighter, the mornings warmer and the need for hearty warming food has fallen away a bit, to commence on the old body overhaul? & in the meantime, to simply put Falstaff back in his cupboard and enjoy a very continental attitude to wine and food? I.E. Never deny, but draw the line between indulgence and gorging. I thoroughly enjoyed the last breath of winter (apart from when I was rained on, which with my lack of umbrella, was rather a lot). There was nothing like coming home to my cosy house after a good day’s work, brisk walk from the bustop to the door and having a lovely glass of Mas d’Intras waiting for me. Antioxidants, hear me roar!
Here’s to Enjoying The Latter Winter Months. January and now February have been and gone and I hope you enjoyed your time together; March and Spring are now knocking on 2011’s door. Even with all the wind and grey we’ve had some dazzling blue days and arch Spring is around the corner. Here’s to January and February; months that are as delightful as those latter summer ones, you just have to get to know them without wearing those depressing New Years Resolution-tinted glasses.
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