Out with the old.

Every New Year brings a sense of excitement as the old cares of the year can be ignored and forgotten and the chances of fresh beginnings in the New Year ahead show promise.

I guess everyone will be pleased to forget a lot of 2020 and be looking forward to 2021 as a new beginning. As always I have plans for the coming year and a “to do” list that already runs to pages and keeps getting additions.

Living a relatively isolated life up the hillside it’s quite possible for us to happily go for days seeing nobody except perhaps the postman, even in normal times. But I really do feel for people who have spent the greater part of 12 months being locked down in urban isolation. Of course when we did open the doors for the glamping in July, we had more visitors than we’ve ever had which was brilliant even with the masks and gloves.

Strangely, but perhaps it comes with achieving a certain longevity I do find it easier to recall events from way back rather than what happened yesterday and recently that’s perhaps been enhanced by the BBC and ITV showing historical docu dramas to fill the time slots on the schedules.

A Christmas present from K this year was a 3 CD set of 1970’s rock classics as put together by Rick Wakeman. It does bring to mind the old adage “if you can remember it then you probably weren’t there! However it did put my mind back some (wait for it) 50 years to 1970.

Sweet (spotty) 15 I was and had already been exposed to the film Easy Rider and then news of Woodstock festival, both in 1969. Along came 1970 and I managed to get to Bath Festival in June with all of the world’s best blues bands and Led Zep topping the bill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Festival_of_Blues_and_Progressive_Music

Then in August I got to the Isle of Wight with Jimi Hendrix headlining. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Festival_1970 An abiding memory is walking away from the site after the Hendrix set and hearing the voice of Leonard Cohen singing “Suzanne” echoing in the darkness as 1000’s of us set of to walk back to catch a ferry to the mainland. It’s strange how the mind swerves away from memories of the strip trench bogs with a scaffold pole to sit on!! Another flash is (not) hearing Pentangle play an acoustic set after Donovan on Saturday afternoon, everybody in the arena seemed to get up and start walking at the same time and all you could hear was the sound of 1000’s of coke cans rustling under the onslaught of people’s feet.

Now I blame me mum for letting an impressionable boy be exposed to such goings on cos after 1970 I don’t think going the straightway was going to get a look in. A rock and roll life style looked much more fun. Little did I know! And now I can’t recall yesterday lunch time and as for sitting in a field for 3 days ouch doubled!!