Pausing to draw breath

[shewhomust]

We had a quiet Christmas staying with D.and valydiarosada, being waited on hand and foot, which was delightful; we had a quiet New Year with D.and valydiarosada staying here, where the service is not in the same class, but that was fun too. Around and between both of these, there was a certain amount of smaller scale visiting. The festive season is not over: but our visitors have returned home, and I am beginning to catch up with myself.

In that spirit, I'm not even going to try to report everything that has happened. Instead, the message received in a Christmas card from the fabulous Gail-Nina, who knows what I like. Outside it's an attractive snowy street scene, in a tasteful colour scheme of monochrome enlivened by red highlights and gold stars - yopu have to look very closely to spot a brightly coloured beak poking out from behind a chimney pot. Inside, though, there is a very visible puffin, and the following poem:

The Puffins of Winter are already here
By Christmas they're quite omnipresent.
They'll roost on your buildings or perch in your square
By the light of the moon (full or crescent).
They're frankly enormous, with beaks of bright red,
They're gluttons for sand-worms or fishes;
But they do win our heartts (once they're properly fed)
By conveying the season's Best Wishes.

Though startling these spectres can certainly be
Uncanny & eerie (yet fleeting)
By dawn they'll have safely returned to the sea
Euphoniously trailing their greeting.
So welcome their presence if they should appear
Whether hovering, lurking or looming,
As "Christmas Good Wishes & a Happy New Year"
Echo back from the waves wild & foaming.