THE MALONEY SCRAPBOOK

  ENTERING THE 3RD YEAR OF COVID-19 (7th January 2022) It is a very still, warm Summer day here. The birds are happy as are the roses and the emerging cucumbers. In each of our Countries, we are leading this historic series of parallel Universes, some in denial, some in controllable isolations, some flirting with the Virus. We all know friends and family members that have had or are coping with COVID with varying degrees of impact. And because of our advanced years, this is compounded with messages or phone calls of friends who have "sudden" serious health challenges or from our Mates with bad news. It has changed our physical relationships and drastically reduced our shared experiences. It has also changed our priorities of interest. We ponder over the photos and the instagrams and wonder. Like many others, Karen & I have now retreated to a bubble within a bubble. We made plans to have Sundays with Friends and Family throughout this year but here we are on the 7th day an

  JANUARY 1st Not only do we lesser mortals fiddle in our sincerity with New Year Resolutions BUT the higher echelons, our Rulers in Government, see the start of a New Year (particularly a New Century, as significant enough to make big changes. 1 January 1801 - Prime Minister William Pitt (the Younger) convinced the Catholic middle-class of Ireland to allow Ireland to join " the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland ". Because the Catholics were for it, the Proddies were against it. But Nevertheless this Union came to pass and lasted until 1921. Not a bad Imperialist time span! 1 January 1856 - The vastly influential business community (read farms & hotels) of Van Diemen's Land were successful in changing the name to Tasmania, still recognising that the Dutch " discovered " the Island before the English, but showing the strength of the English as Queen Vic had to assent to the idea! It is fascinating to think that the good burghers were nearly all ex-Convict