Alice Taylor - As Time Goes By

And Time Stood Still
Warmed my heart and reminded me of the value of family, friendship and community. Irish Independent

Tea and Talk
A delight.
The Sean ORourke Show, RT Radio 1

Do You Remember?
Magical Reading the book, I felt a faint ache in my heart I find myself longing for those days This book is important social history remembering our past is important. Alice Taylor has given us a handbook for survival. In fact, it is essential reading.
Irish Independent

And Life Lights Up
Alices beautiful and captivating writing is an act of mindfulness in itself, and she shares her favourite moments in life, encouraging us to ponder our own. Alice also inspires the reader to be attentive to the here and now and embrace moments as they arise. A beautiful and enchanting book by a bestselling and celebrated author.
Mummypages

For more books by Alice Taylor, see www.obrien.ie

Dedication

In memory of my father,
who planted trees, nurtured his land and the wildlife on it and advised us not to upset the balance of nature.

The joy of anticipation

Awaiting dreams realisation

Looking forward is the fun

Of happy things yet to come.

W e open the door into a New Year with a certain sense of anticipation. This anticipation is the pearl within the oyster of our lives which lights up the present and gives a beckoning forward finger to the future. It entices us on with a sense of hope in our hearts and brings an added glow to our lives. Maybe it is one of the reasons why we should plant a few uplifting experiences into the year ahead to which we can look forward with a sense of excitement in our hearts.

Children are masters of the art of anticipation as they look forward to Santa, their birthdays and holidays. They pack huge enjoyment into occasions before they ever happen. As we grow older we may lose that sense of anticipation. Perhaps standing on the threshold of a new year is a good time to rekindle the flame. That is why at the beginning of 2018 I put two places to visit on my bucket list.

Then, as the year unfolded it turned up some surprises of its own. It was the year of the Big Snow. The year of the Scorching Heat Wave. The year of the Pope. For me and probably for you 2018 was a mixture of many things.

However, for me 2018 was an extra special year because I had a big birthday on the horizon, though my birthdays have always been occasions to which I have given very little attention. Birthdays in our family were never the cause of any great excitement. They came and went without too much notice being paid to them. This year, however, with a big one on the horizon, everyone felt that we should do something special to mark the occasion. But I was quite prepared to let this birthday like all the others pass me by with the minimum of fuss and warned all around me that the last thing I wanted was a surprise birthday party or any such thing. How lacking in a sense of occasion and anticipation was that?

Still, maybe it was this big birthday that caused me to decide in January 2018 to write about the happenings of the year as they unfolded. Big things and little things. The book would depend on what the year brought along.

Also, in January the Captains Log kicked me into introducing a sense of a planned voyage into my life, and then a goose that arrived late for Christmas got me sizzling. And so the year rolled out, unfolding the ordinary and the extraordinary. When the Big Snow whirled in during March many people had never before seen the likes of it. But for me it brought back childhood memories of 1947, the year of the last Big Snow.

Back then we had never heard of double glazing and the bitter cold seeped in through rattling windows and under draughty doors, and we gathered around the kitchen fire with our coats on to keep warm. That snow lasted for many, many weeks and blanketed the entire country under huge six-foot-deep drifts. The burning heatwave which followed in July was the same pattern as 2018. But seventy years ago there were no water shortages as back then very few homes had a piped water supply and on the farm the heatwave did not affect the natural water supply of springs and wells from the depths of the land. Last year, however, it was a different story and for the first time many of us had to become water-use conscious. A water-hose ban came into place, a new experience for us Irish.

Then the Pope came to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families and one wonders how he will remember our cad mle filte. Donald Trump strutted his stuff on the world stage while Stormont kept its curtains closed. We in the South prayed that common sense would prevail as we watched with consternation the Brexit debate convulse our nearest neighbours in Westminster into total disarray. If they jumped blindly overboard the backwash could have dire consequences for us.

In the meantime, here in Innishannon life went on and we celebrated many milestones. The Parish Hall was built by voluntary labour in 1968, an inconceivable achievement in todays world, and was now fifty years in action. Our local Tidy Towns group got going that year as well, which was ten years after the establishment of the national Tidy Towns organisation which has contributed in no small way to the development of Irish tourism. Like many other places in rural Ireland, both the Parish Hall and Tidy Towns have enriched parish living over the years. Our annual Christmas magazine, Candlelight, was in its 35th edition of recording the observations and remembrances of our parish. Many other parishes have similar publications, and what a valuable historical archive they are for each place.

Also, I got to visit two places that were on my bucket list: St Mels Cathedral in Longford and Ballyfin demesne in County Laois, one catering for the divine and the other the human but both food for the body and soul. And to a place of total self-indulgence, Kellys of Rosslare! All these places were a joy to visit.

So come back with me to 2018 and enjoy some of the big events and also some of the funny, quirky little things and unexpected surprises that are all part of everyday living as time goes by.