What’s in a Year?

You may well ask… what’s in a year? Yes… just how much of the happenings of the past year can you recall accurately? How much do you want to remember? Is it worth dwelling on the things that have passed by or should we simply brush aside what’s gone before and get on with today?

Why all this contemplation? Simple… today is the first day of the second year in the life of OMBH… yep, I’ve made it through a full year of one post per day. It was a challenge I set for myself… something to force my mind into action during the long period of unemployment. Mind you, I had plenty to do, I just didn’t derive an income from my activities.

The blogging started out rather tentatively… as a toddler takes his first steps so I needed to gain some sort of confidence in what I was doing. Naturally I learned from others… I enjoyed what I was doing, even though at time I wasn’t too sure of what my aims were or what they should be. Initially, the blog’s main goal was an attempt of developing some form of mouthpiece for the unpublished novel.

In the dream world I live in I believed a publishing deal would be a given, especially when a request arrived from a publishing house for a full manuscript submission. I still dream… we need a little nest egg for a pension. I would like to go travelling… there’s so much to see and experience out there. I would love to spoil she that must always be obeyed… she’s in need of some pampering… believe me… she can do with a few shopping trips to Paris, and London… Amsterdam… Vienna… Bonn… Sydney… New York… Honolulu… did I mention Paris?

I digress… back to the blog. I believe I have achieved something of value. I have found a tool for expressing some of the ideas and thoughts going around in the bone-box. I’ve been able to diarise one year of our lives. Maybe some day my grandkids will look back and see themselves… imagine when GSK and the WWW show their children the images from the distant past… walking along the canal with their oupa could well be a pleasant reminder of a life long forgotten.

There are other family members as well… I mustn’t forget they may well enjoy looking back at the dark days of the 2011/2012 recession and smile at how we amused ourselves without throwing too much money at life. They’ll have reminder of the happy times… of weddings and birthdays. They’ll (hopefully) enjoy some of the reminders. They’ll reflect on a few of the rather sad events of this past year. The untimely and tragic death of our friend Mick the Barber will always leave a lump in the throat. For me personally though… there will be the sadness of seeing a seventeen your old lad’s dream shattered! MY SON’S dream. I will never forget that day in May 2011 when the consultant informed me that his knee is messed for life. It will be a pain that will go with me to the grave.

One thing though… the future is bright. We have a future again. I am grateful that once again I am back in the paid ranks… it’s not the job I’m enslaved too… it’s the simple joy of being able to bring home a few bob so the family can have things a little easier.

Another of the year’s highlights… totally unexpected and unplanned for, was getting involved in some small way with a few of the folk and boats along the Royal Canal. Now that challenge is complete… the Grand waits to be walked, and documented. I have learned so much about the waterways’ heritage… about the boats and bridges, the locks and quays along the way. Mostly though, I have enjoyed the new friendships with skippers and families along the canal. Some fantastic dream you have awakened in me… with a bit of luck and lots of sweat equity I may well own a barge of my own… someday!

The only thing remaining is to thank all of you cyber friends out there… the regulars… (and the irregulars) you make me want to do a daily post… I feel I’ll let you down in some small way if I don’t! Thanks for all your encouragement and inspiration… thanks for returning and reading my rants and raves… thanks for sharing your stories with me as well. I hope, when that book deal eventually arrives and I’m forced to travel the world in search of new story lines… I hope I can meet you all in person. That would be good! No… that will be great!

Thanks for a year gone by… to all, cyber and real… you shared something with me along the way… thanks!

Reflection of a year... many moments to savour and remember... for life! Summer along the Royal Canal... long may it last! 🙂