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‘How was your Christmas and New Year’s?’ Jamie passed a bottle of beer over to Stuart.

‘All good, thanks mate. How about you?’

‘Hectic. The kids came for lunch with the grandkids. People and presents everywhere. Then they headed off to the in-laws.’

‘I don’t miss those times. Christmas was always a crazy day. All the kids want to do is stay at home, and you feel obliged to take them to each set of parents, and now it’s even more complicated.’

‘How so?’ Jamie tilted his head.

‘Both sets of in-laws are divorced, so even though they usually alternate between Christmas Day and Boxing Day, there’s a lot of people to please. We were given a strict timeframe for when they’d be here, and they left at two o’clock, on the dot. It was fun but frantic.’

They both drank for a while, looking out at the closely mown lawn and the in-ground pool which glimmered in the late afternoon sun.

‘Do you ever wonder what life is going to be like in say 10 or 20 years time?’ Stuart asked.

‘Who knows, mate. Things seem to be changing at a cracking pace now, let alone what it might be like then. Why do you ask?’

Stuart sighed. ‘It’s this time of year. One year ending, another beginning. It makes me think about how things used to be. When we were growing up, life seemed simpler. Now, it’s not just our kids who are glued to their phones, but the grandkids too. Talking about things that I don’t really know about or understand. And there are trends and topics that seem a bit, well, bewildering.’

Jamie smiled over at him. ‘Careful, Stu. We’re starting to sound like our oldies now. Always saying things were simpler years ago.’

‘But don’t you wonder about what things will be like?’

Jamie shrugged. ‘Sure I do. And I think about what things were like when I was a kid. But these days, I try to keep most of my thoughts in the here and now.’

‘Yeah?’

Jamie nodded. ‘It’s taken some time, but here’s what I’ve worked out. I can think about the future, and worry about things that might never happen, or that are beyond my control. Or I can lose myself in the past. It’s important to reflect, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t change anything that’s happened. So better to be in the present as much as I can. That way I can enjoy my life, and don’t get lost in fretting over the future or the past.’

‘That’s all a bit mellow, even for this time of year.’

‘True, but it saves a lot of anxiety.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ Stuart grinned, and reached his bottle out to Jamie. They clinked their beers, and sat back, looking out at the garden as the day began to fade.

I’m participating in this blogging challenge for the month of January, which supports starting the year on the “write” track. You can find other posts with #bloganuary and join in the challenge.

Photo: a wrapped present