Week 52

We made it!

Hello!

We made it all the way through our first full year of these weekly posts! Now, as I threatened/promised last week I am taking a week off to go to ground and curl up in my burrow with some bubble and squeak and a plate of mince pies and so there is no seasonal poem this week, but I would absolutely love to hear about your special seasonal things for when I return: what little moments made your week feel like ‘this week in the year’?

Coming up: on Sunday 7th January in the chat part of the app we will start a new series of ‘Usual Spot’ (do shout if you can come up with a better name!). Basically, we all pick a spot and take a picture of it in the first week of each month of the year, and show it to each other on the first Sunday. I want NEW spots from all of you for this year, so over this time do have a think about what yours might be, and perhaps line up your first snap.

I want to take this pivotal moment to thank you all for the way that you have taken this weekly post and turned it into something special in the last year: a real community chat filled with beauty and poetry and where you all follow each other’s lives and support each other too. It has taken on a life of its own and it’s gorgeous to see. Thank you also for the support you have shown my writing and my work. So many of you bought The Almanac early and then supported me by leaving reviews, or with a paid subscription to this Substack, for which I am so grateful (and I’ve loved the reaction to my little paid-subscriber bonuses such as my mid-month chats and my Midwinter playlist too, thank you!). It is so good to have such a strong community at my back. Substack has turned out to be exactly what I dreamed it would be.

Wishing you a peaceful and restful ‘In-Betweeny Week’ if you can possibly take it - this is your cue to hibernate if you possibly can - and a very Happy New Year!

See you in Week 1!