And so it begins

The first few days of a New Year can be a flurry of activity for some of us.

After the always hectic lead-up to the Festive Season, with its shopping and cooking and pre-Xmas get-togethers, its school end-of -year award assemblies, and all manner of end-of-year dance concerts, it's just plain nice to wind down, to relax, but to also do all sorts of things we simply had little time for at the previous year's end.

Like spending lazy hours on the couch watching or listening to Test cricket.

Yes, I am a cricket tragic.

Or hitting the beach for a day. Always pleasurable.

Or starting on my summer book reads.

Or cruisily sitting in a cafe watching the world go by.

Which is what I'm doing at this very moment.

I'm perched in one of Kiama's many delightful coffee spots, and enjoying my flat white while simultaneously observing human behaviour.

These two activities really do go so well together.

People watching is something I like to do, and I've been doing it for many years.

A harmless, engaging pastime from which you can learn a lot about your fellow man.

At this time of the year, in fact, at almost any time of the year in Kiama, there's a lot to take in.

You can be entertained for quite a while, depending on how slowly you consume your coffee, or how quickly the cafe wants you to move on because they rightfully want their table back.

But there's always fun stuff to see, like what people are ordering, or what they're wearing, or how cute their dog is, or how naughty their children are.

Back to reality. I have a house to get into shape after recent Xmas family visits and stayovers.

There's a mountain of sheet and towel washing, remaking of beds, a fridge to restore to normality by removing now very old and unappetising leftovers, and the taking down of Xmas lights, decorations, and a very much sadder, almost dead version of my formerly green, but now brownish Xmas tree.

Which has to be chopped up for the green bin. Full steam ahead on the housework front.

So there you have it. Just a few days into 2026 and for me it's go go go all over again.

Clearly my new year's resolution to slow down a bit didn't make it past the first days.

Neither did my resolution to ease up on the Xmas prosecco.

Oh well, I'll try again next year.