New Year Celebrations

It is ten days into 2010 and my first blog of the New Year. The New Year started with much to celebrate - an 18th birthday, friends' new baby and new and fun challenges for all the family.
I read an interesting newspaper piece last week that spoke about how the 3G mobile phone has changed so much about how we communicate our successes and experiences with friends and total strangers. We use our mobiles to take photographs of everything, and with all the snow and associated fun and frolics associated with the cold, white stuff, we have taken a lot of photographs recently.
I spent the first week of the new year at Ragdale Hall - a fabulous spa for those not lucky enough to have been - and I can certainly recommend this as a great way to herald and prepare yourself for the year ahead. Mobile phones, wonderfully, are quietly discouraged outside of bedrooms at Ragdale, so my ability to take photographs of the snowy scenery was limited, but nonetheless I keep some great photos in my head. Foremost has to be swimming in the snow! One of the gorgeous pools is partially outside and myself and chum Miranda experienced swimming in the snow, at night. The steam coming off the heated water meant that we couldn't see each other or fellow snow-revellers, but laying back in the lovely warm water meant I could look up into the dark to see the huge snowflakes tumbling down and disappearing as they hit the steam. It was glorious. Dashing out of the pool to try and capture the moment on 'film' would have been ridiculous, but writing down how I felt on that wonderful evening serves to capture the moment in a way that certainly brings the pictures rushing in. And a big grin follows! Add to that the homecoming story of new baby on a sled and that certainly was a week to remember.
Maybe what I'm saying (and given that The Celebration Herald is a magazine for people's stories, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone reading this) is that we need to remember that words and stories are wonderful. Mental pictures flood in when the words are set out, and stories told. Stories evoke all kinds of reactions, every type of emotion, but while no one will deny the potency of the photograph (and new baby on a sled is an all-time classic), let's make 2010 the year of sharing stories with those we love and who love us.
Happy New Year everyone.