Inside View: Floating into 2022

IT FEELS LIKE WE just floated into 2022. And you?

I rediscovered deep reading during the Christmas break. And while browsing the shelves of local book shops, I noticed female authors in the most popular slots in fiction and paperback non-fiction. I bought two copies of Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You because I know Mia (13) will enjoy discovering as it calls out from the bookshelf in our sitting room. There's a writing style several of my favourite authors employ. They reward me with short paragraphs and lots of white space at the end of nearly every chapter.

Half pages
at the end of chapters
have become best friends.

January, traditionally the month for planning holidays, opened with Messenger chats from friends five time zones away. They plan to fly into Ireland in late summer. I hope to spark more of the pent-up demand for international tourism by visiting my hometown in Pennsylvania during the month of October 2022. I've discovered that talking about Ireland with friends from my past life can encourage people to book a trip.

I hope that I can entice the MAGA friends I have to visit Ireland. Based on past experiences, I know the most rabid Trumpists in my circle leave their Confederate flags behind when they come for pub talk in Tipperary.

The winter months have induced our hound to find an additional four hours of sleep every day. This must stop because I plan to start long walks with our Bedlington Terrier as part of a holistic exercise and nutrition campaign in 2022.

We need to find more neighbourhoods where we can park and walk. We clean up after Kerry squats so there shouldn't be any drama along the pathways of our new discoveries.