Happy Christmas! I trust you're all enjoying receiving cards depicting snow scenes, which at least look prettier than the rain that we shall probably get in real life!
Please see below for my personal summary of the past year.
I am fortunate to have similarly active friends, and we keep each other going despite the inevitable twinges that you feel as you get older. Without them, I would probably become a couch potato.
This year I have continued to enjoy tennis, beach tennis, cycling (on and off-road), kayaking and beach volleyball (into November this year!). Our gang has also started playing padel tennis, as a few courts have sprung up locally; it's popular with the less-mobile, shall we say?
I did play cricket a couple of times for my old team this year, which they appreciated but my body didn't: the ground was hard this summer! Maybe I'll only play at the start of the season next year, when the landings are softer.
A few people that I play bridge with joined me for a few bike rides this year, some on e-bikes, others on normal bikes. They enjoyed it, but as the ride organiser, finding a day and time when everyone's free and a starting point that everyone can get to is a little challenging, as we all lead busy lives.
Although I retired in 2020, this year I finally managed to enjoy the retirement gift from my final employer, when I took an old school mate to Taunton to watch a couple of days of county cricket, Somerset v Yorkshire. I must say that the local apple juice drink went down very well!
I completed 25 years of service for St John Ambulance this year, which I'm very proud of. I have succeeded in palming off my county-wide event management responsibilities to a younger keener person, so my efforts are now focussed locally, although I have also helped out with events in the neighbouring counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire this year, which has been fulfilling.
The NHS continues to supply me with medication that allows me to live my lifestyle of choice. This year I've had my two asthma inhalers replaced with a single combined function inhaler called Fostair, on recommendation from my practice asthma nurse. It seems to be a little better for me, as I haven't been wheezy at all during the cold damp autumn when I sometimes get a little worse.
Rather than making the quiz all about me this year, I thought I'd pose some of the questions that came up during a recent charity quiz that I went to while visiting my friends in Spain, where there are some very enthusiastic branches of the Royal British Legion.
With my best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,
Nige.
