You know, I’ve never really gone in for new year’s resolutions. Call me old-school, but there seems to be little point to making pronouncements about some kind of commitment that you’ll break within a week or two.

Yes, you may be shamed into sticking to it a bit longer if you’ve told the world your intentions, but in my experience, when push comes to shove and the choice is between ten minutes’ gentle ribbing from your nearest and dearest and giving up smoking or enduring a painful six-month gym programme – or even cutting out carbs – you’re going to take the ribbing every time.

Maybe it’s the wholesome country values you imbibe with every breath in Braidwood, but it seems to me that the age-old saw of saying what you mean and doing what you say is a good recipe for getting along – not just for the new year, but – like a Christmas puppy –  for life.

Of course, there are more direct ways of making changes – just look at those people with horns who stormed the Capitol the other day – but after looking around Braidwood for a suitably imposing building to storm, I decided to do something for others instead. It’s my greatest flaw, this need to render succour to my fellow human, despite the personal cost. And anyway, everyone knows face paint is a disaster for the complexion.

No, what I’m going to do for you, despite the costs to me – which I won’t even mention – is to give the old blog a spring-clean and makeover for 2021. You’re welcome. 

Just a note of caution: I’m still getting the hang of the back-office gubbins that make this new look look new, so it may take a while to fulfil its true potential. For instance, those carefully-curated header images for each post should all come up the same size, but so far the method of making this happen has not revealed itself. And when I click on a likely-looking button, sometimes I get this:

Which is just rude. There’s no call for name-calling.

But for all that, I do get it. 2020 wasn’t the year we hoped it would be when we awoke on 1 January. At times it seemed as if the blows would just keep on coming — it was the kind of year that required us all to dig deep to find the better parts of ourselves so we could carry on. That can produce some surprising results, but sometimes it would be nice not to have to — let’s hope 2021, despite a shaky start, can give us a break from turning the other cheek.