2010

Oh dear, Inverness has cancelled its official Hogmanay Celebration on the advice of Northern Constabulary. This isn't an event about which I've ever been able to raise enthusiasm though I did enjoy the fireworks in Birmingham when we had a party in the top floor flat of Cambridge Tower. Chronology except for finding files isn't that important. Some anniversaries matter because they're a chance to celebrate good memories - like birthdays, including Christmas. Otherwise dates serve as mere references, notes in calendars for starting things, appointments. deadlines, like when to submit a tax return; actuarial calculations about life's length; when to start a family. Alarm clocks get you up. Watches remind you of schedules and programmes. But New Year? Pshaw! Give me moveable feasts - ones that are complicated to work out. All the same we had a happy celebration nine years ago as the date over the UK turned from 31 December 2000 to 1 January 2001 - a moment some argue was the real start of a new millenium.

We were in our flat at the top of Cambridge Tower in the center of Birmingham with a ringside view from our windows and balcony over Centenary Square, able to see not only the grand municipal firework display - much of it reflected in the glass frontage of the Hyatt Hotel just over Broad Street - but smaller affairs across a good forty square miles in private gardens across the sprawling suburbs of the West Midlands.