{"id":3373,"date":"2016-12-22T14:27:13","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T14:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2ndcupoftea.com\/?p=3373"},"modified":"2016-12-22T14:37:02","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T14:37:02","slug":"christmas-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/2ndcupoftea.com\/?p=3373","title":{"rendered":"No Golden Ticket This Year…"},"content":{"rendered":"

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe<\/em>”\u00a0\u2015 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe<\/p>\n

W<\/strong>ell, that was some year wasn’t it? Goodness…<\/p>\n

It felt like my Brexit tears had only just dried – going to sleep on June 23rd in Great Britain and waking up on June 24th in Little England – and then November 8th happened.<\/p>\n

Usually at this time of year, one can look back upon the previous\u00a051 weeks and, at the same time, ahead to the weeks\u00a0next year has to offer, doing so\u00a0without too much concern for the 52nd of this year. But in the current world?<\/p>\n

So to us all, let me start by saying happy 52nd week of 2016.<\/p>\n

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On this, the 22nd of December, the day of the extraction of the Spanish Loteria –<\/p>\n

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known as El Gordo – the fat one – 99.9% of those who ‘played’ instead of tearing them up, place their losing tickets back into their envelopes – for just maybe the website is wrong? – and then sigh as the ‘suerte’ or lack thereof spells another year of work ahead.<\/p>\n

As for S and I, our tickets and combined 80\u20ac investment have brought no immediate change to our lives either; S is still sitting by the fire working from home, before heading off to her Christmas staff party tonight, and I have interrupted my long overdue catching up on emails, to pen a few words on my site.<\/p>\n

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It has been awhile – the last insert here, speaks of a spring marathon. Not impressive. There are (many) stories in the pipeline, which I am hoping the winter’s dark evenings, fireplace’s glow and gentle days of Guajar Alto, will release. Currently many a note book sits adjacent to the fireplace, scribblings\u00a0captured, waiting to be released into published tales.<\/p>\n

I (still) want to tell you all about my ‘research’ in Switzerland earlier this year into the history of Absinthe, then there’s a true story of lost luggage from Brittany you might find amusing, or perhaps how I was followed to Seville by the memory of a lost love, there is a half completed fantasy of the garum makers of Baelo Claudia or my latests investigations into the Robin Hood-esque bandits of Andalusia… watch this space.<\/p>\n

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This year more than 4800 people visited 2nd Cup of Tea and 221 readers will receive this post by email – I am eternally grateful to those of you who read and comment. I thank you for your patience and gentle judgement.<\/p>\n

As much as I love life\u00a0here in the Andalusian hills, my month off, dedicated to writing will no doubt fly past and it will be time to set off once more to share wonderful places and moments with so many people. I look forward to seeing many of you on the roads of Europe next year… 2017 will be (all being well) the year I finally set off on my walk to Rome – I cannot wait for that adventure.<\/p>\n

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But meanwhile, as I turn off my phone and shut down internet for Christmas and I take my own private British Exit until 2017, I wish you all the very best and safest of 52nd weeks of any year.<\/p>\n

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime<\/em>.” – Mark Twain<\/p>\n

Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle.<\/p>\n

Hugs and thank you for reading and sharing…<\/p>\n

Thomas<\/p>\n

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