Fresh Start

Reset anew any day

Dear full reader,

Well, I hope you’re sated by conversations and/or food. I’m back from a small but lovely family gathering. This week between Christmas Day and New Year’s is a liminal period, where the pace of life runs with an odd gait, and throws off our sense of time. Even driving home was quiet and easy, with light traffic but lots of people out walking with dogs and prams, braving the chilly, breezy grey day, eager to shake off their food indulence and long slump in front of the TV.

Today is St. Stephen’s Day, but in Ireland it was traditionally celebrated as Lá an Dreoilín or Wren Day¹ (wren is often pronounced wran in this instace). There’s a theory that the Irish word for wren - dreoilín – derives from two words, draoi and ean, so it means Druid Bird; the druids were important spirtual leaders in pre-Christian Ireland who were purported to have magical powers. The Wren Day festivities are thought to be a remanant of an ancient practice… but who really knows for sure?

What we do know is that Wren Day used to involve the hunting of a wren — sadly, they used to kill it, but today if the tradition is practised a fake one is used. Its little corpse was placed within a holly bush and hoisted on top of a decorated pole. Crowds of mummers, or strawboys, dressed up in straw suits or mismatched colourful outfits, would play instruments and dance through towns and villages with the wee bird to raise money for its funeral. They were also known as the Wren Boys.

Here is a recording of the traditional song that used to be sung as the Wren was paraded through the town.

The festival remains active and popular in Dingle, Co. Kerry, where the money raised is now distributed to various charities, and no wrens are harmed.

There are a number of folk tales about the wren that paint it as a traitorous bird, but I think it’s a smear campaign. A bird associated with magic and pagan tradition somehow was labelled a Judus. I wonder…?

It’s hard to credit as the wren is a tiny brown puffball that barely weighs 9 grams. It’s got a sweet song, and in the spring the male creates several little residences (spherical balls of moss) and then prances about, singing tempting songs to snag the attention of a female (or two). If his nest is deemed worthy the lady will move in and lay eggs — both parents are involved in feeding the chicks. Wrens are in the top 20 most widespread garden birds in Ireland. I’m glad they are no longer hunted, but allowed to continue their passion for avian real estate.

‘Girl with an Oil Lamp at a Window’, by Gerard Dou, 1645-75.

This is my last newsletter for 2023! Since it’s the still time of the year it’s going to be a short one, especially as as I squeezed in an extra newsletter last week about my one-page comic with PJ Holden.

I don’t formulate resolutions per se, but I do conduct a review of my work and goals at the end of every year and approach the New Year with a fresh perspective and a can-do attitude. I find it’s a useful marker, but of course, every hour and every day can be a new start. We don’t have to wait for the 1st of January, or the 10th of February (Chinese New Year) or even the the 1st of November (Diwali).

We can determine to Begin Again at any point.

2023 has been both personally and creatively challenging. I’m glad at be at this end of the year, but I can’t regret the tough parts. They taught me as much as the fun and merry periods.

While I fervently wish that all of you have a happy and healthy 2024, with lots of laughter and magic, I also know this is unlikely to be the case for the entire tweleve months.

So, I wish you all amazing friends and solid support networks, and the good sense to know when to ask for help when you need it. Even if it’s just to chat over a cup of tea.

All things pass, and change again. I’ll read this entry in December 2024 and it will feel like something that happened to me an eye blink ago and it will read like the thoughts of a stranger I sorta recognise.

There’s just now… and now… and this moment too.

Keep moving forward toward your best life.

Thanks for all your support in 2023! See you in 2024!

1. It’s also celebrated on the Isle of Man.