Grateful: Day 72 - Pace Yourself

What a lovely Christmas Day. It's not usual that I should say such a thing. It's often quite a challenge. But today was lovely.

My present, which I opened before leaving, was inspired. An eco daylight light bulb in pretty packaging. Thank you, Yot. It made me laugh and will be terribly useful. I like that you're my friend.

A swim, of course, just in time. The ladies' pond closed at 9.30 this morning so the life guards could go and prepare for the races at the men's pond at 11. The water was lovely. The company was great. A Ruth (not mine, another one) and her friends, and another lady I remember by face more than by name. And a hug from Claire, one of the lifeguards, and smiles from Kim and the blond, curly-haired one whose name I really should know by now.

Claire had Viszla/Poodle cross puppies during the summer. They were ready to go to new homes in the autumn. Oohhh, I ached for one of them. I saw photos. They were small, blonde and slightly curly-haired. I think Esther Lilley would have found them a most suitable dog, and anything Esther Lilley finds most suitable is probably rather good.

A chat with a very camp man and his dog, Lucy, both of us watching a bunch of very large men divebombing into the men's pond. Very funny. They have a diving board, see, so getting in is more macho by its very nature. And it can all be seen from the path, making it somehow showboatier. I spoke to a family (at 9.40, more or less) who were walking a very excitable, very young spaniel (14 weeks) and drinking white wine from plastic glasses. Their son had just finished his shift at the Royal Free Hospital and wanted a drink to celebrate. They joined him. They told me all about their dog and their son and wished me a happy Christmas.

All the way on the hour or so's cycle over to Acton, I smiled and nodded at people. It was only an hour because I was bumbling. It was a very pleasant ride. At Kate's: oooh, Kung Fu Panda. Brilliant! I really liked the old turtle master with his head resembling genitals and his wise words and dignity. The animation was ace. I loved the whole thing.

And this evening, we cooked, ate, gave gifts and talked. Kate, Marg and I. We gave each other small physical gifts (body oil, a Mexican bowl-shaped ornament, from actual Mexico, that is a cheetah who's eaten up a lady, a book about dogs). And then we gave each other fantasy gifts.

I love this game. You get to choose anything to give your friend. Anything at all. It isn't bound by limitations of money, scale or even pragmatism. You can wish someone happiness, give them a superpower, bestow upon them a house, a dog, some wealth. Or you can say things maybe you wouldn't say in passing.

I received, among other things, an enormous dog kennel with lots of occupants and quarters for me, a romance with a tall Norwegian writer and the power to hover above the ground. Good haul! That period of gift-giving moved me massively. I felt soft and open-hearted.

And we did a tarot reading for each of us (I did two). I like the cards for letting you into secrets you already know. For me, tarot doesn't tell the future - it shows you what you're processing. It accesses the part of you that makes dreams and knows things in itself. It's interesting. We kept our readings content-free - so the person with the cards said nothing about the thing they were thinking about.

We did, as I'm sure many did today, eat too much. And personally, I'm grateful I don't drink. I had no need to 'pace myself' or end up feeling sick or wasted. Just no issue at all. It's a while since I remembered day by day how grateful I am for that, but I like having reminders. Goodness, my life is so much more fun than it used to be, and goodness knows what it would have become if i had carried on.

Today, I'm grateful for the easy company of friends, for the abundance to be able to do be here and eat together and for so many gifts I wasn't even expecting. For my full belly. For songs on the radio. For a warm bed offered, and about to be made use of and for lots of good, beloved, valued friends, here and all over the world.