Christmas Greetings from my Hermit���s Cave
Last Christmas I wrote about Christmas in the strangest of years. Well, it���s still a strange old world and while I���ve occasionally been venturing out from my hermit���s cave, it certainly doesn���t feel normal.
I now visit a few select shops but am still shunning all supermarkets. Delivery to my doorstep is the new norm. As for travel, I don���t think I���ve been further than 30 miles from my own doorstep for the past two years. Book festivals and conferences are a no-no unless they���re online. I���ve become quite adept at Zoom and have done a few Zoom events and readings for libraries and other places. If you search for my name on YouTube, you���re bound to find them.
I have plucked up the courage to do some live events, as well as taking my bookstall to various markets. Masked and sanitised, of course. And it���s been marvellous to meet real live people and readers in the flesh rather than on Zoom. I think I���d started to think flesh and blood people were a figment of my imagination and that we were all avatars.
The one good thing is that I���ve read a massive number of books. Kindle for bedtime, paperback or hardback for midday, and audiobooks when I���m exercising or doing mundane household tasks.
I will be dining out on Christmas Day, but it won���t be in a restaurant or hotel ��� I���ve forgotten what the inside of those looks like! I will be joining my granddaughter and her family, maintaining my social bubble, and we���re going to have a great time.
As for the new book, it���s progressing slowly. I think when lockdown first happened, my brain decided to go into lockdown as well. I really must get my finger out and finish it.
In the meantime, I want to wish everyone a happy Christmas and to those of you who don���t celebrate Christmas, happy holidays. I hope Santa is good to you and fills your stockings with all kinds of goodies, particularly books. What���s Christmas or a holiday without a good book.
Chris Longmuir
