This year it doesn’t have the same ring to it. When the old is still surrounding us.
Normally we are celebrating all the happy memories and focusing on the exciting plans for the year ahead. It’s hard to celebrate when you’re stunned.
I love to swim. Cockenzie & Port Seton open air pool set me up well. 67’F was not unusual. I think the F was for FERY cold. It was a shock to the system with that first dive under the water but you soon got used to the freeze. My 3k at 10 years old was a life achievement. I don’t think I’ve done as much exercise since. But I got my badge to add to the collection. In the cold water the fountain at the shallow end was the sign of another lap completed. I remember thinking at the halfway mark, of my 2 mile swim, oh no I’m only halfway there. There was a dread, given how cold it was, that I had to repeat what I’ve already done before I could finish. The Covid statistics are horrendous. The NHS is on its knees again and for those directly affected the pain will be even greater. Celebrating this New Year feels a bit like a dread that we’re only halfway done with Covid and a lot of the pain will still have to be endured.
Leaving 2020 has left all of us weary. How many more laps do we have to face before this is finished? With a second vaccine approved, we’re now being promised Easter for a return to normal. Why do I find that hard to believe? The winter months are always tough but with the restaurants closed, again, and lockdown all around us, it’s hard to find the excitement of the year ahead.
We can agree that 2020 was lost to us all. If you run a hospitality business, or are involved with sports or the arts, you’ve not just lost one year you’ve probably lost four or five and more. If you’ve lost a loved one I can’t imagine your shock. If you’ve lost your business there may not be enough years to be able to catch up. This will be true for many industry colleagues.
In the great Scottish tradition of dooking (in Cockenzie it was always at the Boat Shore at the Bells) Covid has felt like that initial freezing shock but the pain of the chill of the ice cold water isn’t wearing off. We’ll be feeling it over the coming months (and years) which makes it hard to focus on the exciting times ahead in 2021.
We’re all weary. I know some of you will resist or refuse vaccination. If my world was the same as it was at the start of 2020 would I be more inclined to resist a vaccination? Probably? More probably not as the youngest of a large family I’m in it for the crowd. For my business there is no choice. I will be happy to receive the vaccination as I believe it will be the only thing to help us all get back to a level of normal, albeit on a much smaller scale of normal for some time. Maybe we will be able to finish and warm up by the summer, let’s look forward to that.
Keep safe and keep well.
Thank you most sincerely for all your support, you’ve helped us get through 2020.
Let’s get to the finish line and start making those happy memories again.
Happy New Year to you all.
Carina
PS.Contini at Home is open for delivery or collection Wednesday to Saturday from 6th January.
Every order over £65 for Wednesday delivery or collection will receive a complimentary bottle of Victor’s Vino in January!
New for January is our Scottish Cafe Fry Up!
Campbell’s Haggis, Stornoway Black Pudding, Edinburgh Bacon Co bacon, Ramsay of Carluke Sausage, grilled tomato and Phantassie Organic egg £10 per person
All ingredients will come prepared in a handy foil container for you to simply pop in the oven and all you have to do is cook your egg to your liking!
