Linda Hall: Remembering the good times

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you get the chance to rest and relax. Photo / Getty

Can’t believe I’m going to write the next sentence. This is my last column for 2022.

And what a year it’s been.

Although there were no official lockdowns, most of us were locked down in isolation at some point, either from having Covid or because we had to stay at home because a family member had it.

The word positive took a negative turn, and food prices started to go up .

Then along came the nasty old flu to get us when our defences were down.

It certainly was a winter I don’t want to repeat in a hurry.

It rained, I stayed home, I felt yuck, it rained some more, and food prices continued to go up and up.

Then just when things seemed to be looking up, in late May I lost one of the best friends I have ever had.

Again in September, we lost a special family member.

So yeah, I won’t be sorry to see the back of 2022.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today. Photo / Warren Buckland

But I’m not going to remember 2022 for all the bad things that happened. I’m going to call it the year of the animal (and bird).

It’s the year we managed to hatch some chickens, it’s the year the bunnies drove me mad, and it’s the year I finally got to own a horse.

I haven’t mentioned much about Donald and Daisy this year, but they managed to raise 10 ducklings.

I have loved watching them test their wings out, and now they all fly over the house together. Amazing.

I will also remember all the great times I have spent with my family this year.

Especially the amazing time I had with my children and grandchildren when they visited at the end of July.

I will always remember my Aussie grandson telling his mother it had been snowing when he stepped outside on a cold, frosty, late June morning.

The ground was white. He was amazed at the blocks of ice on the chooks’ water bowls.

He’s 13 and had never seen a frost.

Then there are all the wonderful people I have met through work.

Thank you to the lovely lady who dropped in a little wooden horse after she read about Jack. I love it. Also, thank you to the person who dropped off a joke book after I wrote about a joke session, and to the people who still send me jokes.

Your kindness and feedback really make my day.

As for 2023 - well, who knows? It’s certainly going to be an interesting one, with an election on the horizon.

Here’s a Christmas joke for you: What’s the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the regular alphabet?

The Christmas alphabet has Noël.

Wishing you and yours a fantastic Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. To see out the year, and for the entirety of 2023 - do things that make you happy.

- Linda Hall is Hawke’s Bay Today’s assistant editor.