Welcome to 2026! It may be eight days into the year, but I feel that a New Year post is still relevant – Christmas break ended just two days ago, the minions went back to school, and I returned to work. While I do not subscribe to New Year resolutions, I do confess to a few goals as the calendar stretches ahead of me, blank and unknown of both the good and bad.
The first is fairly mundane: label my photographs. In my “personal” pictures folder for 2025, there are 4,807 images. This does not include (very many) photographs of buildings, which I do sort into folders by county after downloading. It’s the latter that vexes me the most, especially in large cities. It’s all very well to have a folder of images labeled as “February 2023” in Louisville, but when you are driving and stopping to take photos in a most pleasing aimless way, and you fail to write down any notes about your location – well, let’s just say I appreciate the GPS coordinates included in the photos shot from my smart phone.
My new year goal: use that (metaphorical) pencil to label my jpegs!
My second aspiration for 2026 comes to me via a book I’ve been reading (devouring might be a better description) – The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, subtitled “A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.”
Winston Churchill visiting bomb-damaged areas of the East End of London, 8 September 1940. Photograph taken by Mr. Putnam, War Office official photographer. War Office Second World War Official Collection, now in public domain.
It is SUCH a good book. I’m an Anglophile, so of course I gravitate to almost anything England, but Larson (I’ve read several of his books before) is such an excellent storyteller, and of course, the subject can’t help but be gripping. And Winston Churchill!
Since 1921, Chequers has been the country home of the prime ministers of the United Kingdom. It is located near Wendover in Buckinghamshire, England. The original house dates to 1565, and was remodeled in the early 19th century, then “restored” to its Elizabethan appearance between 1890-1917. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Well! Could anyone have been more of a force of nature?
This brings me to my goal, which is namely, to emulate Churchill’s penchant for long soaks in the bathtub. While I won’t have a secretary or typist in my bathing chamber, I do think it is an excellent spot from which to think. (And perhaps there is something to starting the day off with a restorative hot bath? With some tea? And an audio book…)
Two of my (England-based) Christmas books – thank you to my sisters!
While I’m on the subject of books, let me share some of the delightful tomes I received as Christmas gifts. Since it is impossible to gift time – the one thing I want more of than anything else – books are the next best present. I got two great Louisville based books, which are serving me well as I work on a report set in that city.
A fun volume to add to my Jefferson County collection.
Historic maps AND photos! What could be more delicious?
While January has been strangely warm and I’ve been pleading with the jonquils and daffodils to please not start emerging from their winter sleep, gardening season does beckon.
I have an obsession with vines, especially the clematis.
My long-suffering husband, even as he rages at the climbing roses that have run rampant over our backyard fence, helps feed my gardening addiction. The National Geographic guide to public gardens on this side of the pond will hopefully come into play on future excursions.
Studying the greats is a time-honored way to hone one’s own skills and talents.
I’ve even found a new place to balance my piles of new books – using them as carefully stacked art on one of my small chest of drawers!
Books for daydreams…
If I cared to stretch the limits of my objectives for the new year, I might add more time for reading…and tea. I’ll settle for a good balance between work and personal life, spending time with the people I love the most, and taking every opportunity to make clover chains, have a sword fight, or explore a an overgrown thicket on the farm. I hope that your new year will include plenty of what you love best, and the chance to appreciate it.
Don’t forget to emulate one of Churchill’s Big Drinks at your side, while tub-soaking…! 🤡‼️
And keep up the posts! Each structure you feature for me opens a dialog with it…which I find quite stimulating!! Grand structure to the lowly…each has a tale to tell.
Erik Larson’s “The Splendid and the Vile” is indeed wonderful. I came to it sideways from a dive into Bletchley Park-related books, notably Sarah Baring’s memoir of her war years there, “The Road to Station X.” They really did just “Carry On.”
If you can face indexing your backlog, Adobe’s LightRoom is a wonderful tool for keeping track of images using any criteria you choose, and you don’t have to sort them into folders (!). You can dump each day’s catch in its own folder and then index each image by county, town, date, owner, style, condition — whatever you decide is important. Then just ask Lightroom for “Adair County” “19th century” “Italianate” and those images will all pop up.
Love your picture! And I commend your resolution to take long baths and read more books. I am making note of the books you mentioned as they all sound absolutely wonderful.
Happy 2026!