What a year!   Thanks for opening this message.  We send it to you hoping that it finds you celebrating the festive season, in spite of the months the world has just been through.  We ourselves were fortunate to make a visit to Delphi in mid-August, this time with both sons, but the number of pilgrims was well down.  We have seen major changes in Greece over the past decades and cannot say we entirely welcome how it has been affected by the ‘modern world’.  Perhaps this kind of view is an inevitable consequence of our own advancing years.  John was very fortunate to compensate for another such  consequence.  Despite the pressures on the health service he had both eyes treated for cataracts.  That was surprising and welcome to us both.  However another consequence was after forgetting to take his epileptic medicine.   He must wait some time before he is allowed to drive again, meaning all the burden falls on Chris.  So we would not be travelling far, even without the pandemic.  Fortunately we still have no car, so the motorhome gets out to shops, the meeting house and David’s – when covid restrictions allow.  Otherwise humidity damage could have been yet another consequence of a difficult year.  

As with many people we have learnt how to use Zoom, or at least partially so.  As it enables us to meet weekly as a family, we anticipate we may well continue using it in time to come.  We wring our hands, when we see a cabinet of ‘brexiters’  take us further from our friends in the south of Ireland and the rest of the EU.  Potential dissenters stay silent.  As this effects even simple things like driving licences, vehicle and health insurances, we wish it could be otherwise, but know now that will not happen in our lifetimes.  Ireland ‘celebrates’ a century of partition next year and seems unlikely to reunite for quite a time.  There is not the prosperity on the island to make it work. 

We mentioned in our message last Christmas that the Esperanto-speaking world will be holding its annual congress in Queens University, Belfast next July.  Anywhere between one and two thousand visitors, covid permitting.  We had signed up as a family for this year’s in Montreal.  800 had paid up, which is not too bad a number for that continent.   We had hoped to invite officially the congress to Belfast in 2021.  But it was inevitably replaced by events via video conferences instead.  We played no role.  When over in Canada we would probably have also taken up invitations from relatives in the States to visit but that was not to be either.  Of course we have now signed up again, but the Belfast congress could still go the same way as Montreal’s.  Personally we prefer the smaller holiday events normally available with similar international participants.  We are glad not to be on the organising side for Belfast’s.

Judging by the cards which have already arrived, 2020 has been generally a good year for attending to the plants.  Of course we have much less space here in Carrickfergus compared to Omagh.  Chris has been attentive also to the garden birds.  We have had good runner beans (see above) and Chris has just planned garlic bulbs.  She had to wait for the temperature to be low enough!  And yes, we do like using garlic.

We are encouraged by increasing promises on countering climate change and human contributions.  Alas the trebling of human numbers on the planet in just our lifetime is not yet receiving much attention.  In our eyes the avalanche of high quality products from China also points to the future to come.  Maybe we are fortunate to have no grandchildren to worry about.  We can of course worry about everybody else’s.

This year the local U3A, like so much else here, had to close down.  We had become quite involved.  It offers everything from canoeing to Scrabble.  Members arrange these themselves.  Chris has been fortunate that her French group took smoothly to video meetings.  This continues to involve her in weekly preparations for the next agreed topic to be discussed.  Alas there has been no substitute for her art groups, but she still gets out her materials at times on the dining room table.  John however decided to give up his Spanish group.  It has indeed continued vigorously via a WhatsApp group, tutored voluntarily by a native Spanish speaker, who is very competent and hardworking.  In a way he regrets his decision, but he finds his energy levels are getting lower just like his physical height.  He also got some Greek materials out before going to Delphi.  Alas he will forever remain at the stage of reading not so badly but having little to say for himself.

With the advent of a possible Esperanto congress John has turned to Gaelic.  He feels that he cannot face Esperanto friends coming to Belfast next year and he not being able even to wish them well in Gaelic – if that is requested.  Indeed that is just the kind of situation which Esperanto claims to help around the world, i.e. help local languages retain their status.  He has looked at Gaelic at various times over the years, initially as a teenager, when it still used mediaeval letters and piles of redundant ones in its spelling.  The surname Murray was a lengthy monster then.  His father was proud of his own few phrases from the time he was a commercial traveller in Donegal.  John has still vivid pictures of the school teacher who apologised that he could not lend his Ancient History notes out to pupils as they were written in Irish.  The bit that amused his small class more was that they were also written in green ink.  John does not hope to master Irish.  It is much too late for that.  Chris remains sceptical and wishes he would just concentrate on rebuilding the Irish Esperanto website.  

Hoping that next year will bring us all some cheer

John and Chris Murray