All is quiet on New Year's Day
In the village square, the party poppers and streamers lie on the tarmac, like the tresses of an abandoned lover. Up in the bedroom, Mr Grigg is snoring. Behind the closed curtains of The Enchanted Village streets, people are sleeping with smiles on their faces.
Last night, the clock struck twelve (it could have been thirteen) as the cast of this blog snaked down from the hall past the play equipment to the square. Earlier, Mr Grigg had spent rather too long in a clinch with a couple of balloons and a pretty maid as Manual shouted instructions from the stage, dressed in a sequinned suit and a ginger wig.
He managed to break away in time for the big New Year's Eve countdown, and my high heels spiked the grass in the village green as I tried to make it to the square before the clock stopped chiming.
Down in the square, revellers spilled out from the pub. There were two lines. Us and them. The Greeks and the Trojans, ready to fight. Super Mario and Princess Peach, as Hector and Andromache, looked across at us all in our village hall finery. When Hawkeye came out from the pub, shouting 'Happy New Year' in his John Wayne drawl, I thought there might be a shoot-out.
And then someone started singing Auld Lang Syne. We linked arms, all of us, a huge great circle in the square. We sang, we slowly stomped towards each other, our hands intertwined. A taxi pulled up and had to wait as the Enchanted Village came together in a spirit of one-ness. We got faster and faster, meeting in the middle until the end of the song when there were kisses and hugs all round.
I saw Bellows Packman embracing Mrs Champagne-Charlie, Darling Loggins cuddling Nobby Odd-Job, Pelly Sheepwash cosying up to Randy Munchkin and Mrs Bancroft hugging the fragrant Mrs Putter.
And then there was Mr Grigg, a huddle of ladies all queueing up for a New Year's kiss.
I looked around at the village, the Christmas lights on our tree above our front door flashing like they were going out of fashion, the Union Jack over the shop fluttering and the taxi driver waiting patiently while we danced all around him.
This is a good place to be right now, I thought.
That's about it.
Oh, and yes, Happy New Year.
Love Maddie x
Last night, the clock struck twelve (it could have been thirteen) as the cast of this blog snaked down from the hall past the play equipment to the square. Earlier, Mr Grigg had spent rather too long in a clinch with a couple of balloons and a pretty maid as Manual shouted instructions from the stage, dressed in a sequinned suit and a ginger wig.
He managed to break away in time for the big New Year's Eve countdown, and my high heels spiked the grass in the village green as I tried to make it to the square before the clock stopped chiming.
Down in the square, revellers spilled out from the pub. There were two lines. Us and them. The Greeks and the Trojans, ready to fight. Super Mario and Princess Peach, as Hector and Andromache, looked across at us all in our village hall finery. When Hawkeye came out from the pub, shouting 'Happy New Year' in his John Wayne drawl, I thought there might be a shoot-out.
And then someone started singing Auld Lang Syne. We linked arms, all of us, a huge great circle in the square. We sang, we slowly stomped towards each other, our hands intertwined. A taxi pulled up and had to wait as the Enchanted Village came together in a spirit of one-ness. We got faster and faster, meeting in the middle until the end of the song when there were kisses and hugs all round.
I saw Bellows Packman embracing Mrs Champagne-Charlie, Darling Loggins cuddling Nobby Odd-Job, Pelly Sheepwash cosying up to Randy Munchkin and Mrs Bancroft hugging the fragrant Mrs Putter.
And then there was Mr Grigg, a huddle of ladies all queueing up for a New Year's kiss.
I looked around at the village, the Christmas lights on our tree above our front door flashing like they were going out of fashion, the Union Jack over the shop fluttering and the taxi driver waiting patiently while we danced all around him.
This is a good place to be right now, I thought.
That's about it.
Oh, and yes, Happy New Year.
Love Maddie x
Sounds very community-ish. I've not been to our village square at mid-night (too late for me )but I understand people turn up in fancy dress, hang around a bit, then go home. Not exactly worth waiting up for!
ReplyDeleteEsther
Well it sounds worth turning up for to me!!Makes our turn around the dance floor at the Ward Room seem fairly tepid - perhaps I could introduce your village traditions to this part of the world and get things stirred up next year!
ReplyDeleteVery Oz to me..I'd love to have a village like this to embrace..as they say, the grass is always...But we had a bit of a get- together here..Times Square..no I didn't go! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I am new to your blog so I don't know much about your posts, as everyone else who has commented on this seems to. but I would like to let you know that I find your stories extremely warm and heartfelt, written by someone who has obvious talent. keep it up! check out my blog here, if you have time, as i see you are currently dealing with 800+ followers: http://sleepinl8.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteand I got a question: how did you get it to say "If you're passing this way, I'd be very pleased if you stopped to say hello"???
sleepin18, thanks for your kind comments, and thanks for everyone for reading. In answer to your question, go to the settings tab on your dashboard, then comments then comment message and save. Simples.
ReplyDelete