Warm Glow

The time of year for sentimentality but also (among some blippers, certainly) a backlash comprising attempts to undermine or parody it. Well, I applaud that, and am enjoying some of the dark humour. Compulsory nostalgia is asphyxiating, but using this time of year to remember the best of our past with affection seems fine, and countering the cold and rain with a little self-engendered warm glow might get us through the darkest nights

So, Lionel getting his medal at the 5th and final attempt, great. Hamsa winning by popular acclaim, regardless of his technical merit, fine (but will the TV now devalue him with over-exposure, like Nadia and Brian Cox?) Unearthing the familiar Xmas decorations, and a re-telling of the stories tied up with them, I'm all ears

I had to chop some kindling today before the rain set in. The wood is an old kitchen table that I sawed up in the summer. Actually, it's the kitchen table at which I ate 3 (or sometimes 4 or 5!) meals a day until I was 18. It also served as an occasional table-tennis table for games against my mother. On one side of the net there was a patched area where someone had put down a hot pan; on the other, 3 holes and associated indentations where my grandmother used to bolt down the butter-churn, before she got a smaller one she could use on her lap while watching TV. Both useful places to aim to land the ball for a false bounce

Should I be sentimental about the table and all it's associated memories? At one time I think I would have been. Do we get less sentimental as we get older? My mother and grandmother as I remember them would have thought sentimentality about a woodwormed table was ridiculous. The fire it lit to keep us warm while Messi held his masterclass was splendid

So, Xmas tree lights in the rain, with lights from upper windows on a dark winter's night. Solid gold sentimentality - take it or leave it