Welcome to the seventh edition of The Alys Journal. For many of us, the closing of our 2020 chapter is a bittersweet moment, though we tuck away its fonder memories, triumphs, and achievements with intention as we move into 2021 with hope. Here at Alys, celebrating the holiday season was a much more subdued affair, though we were delighted that so many of our friends and family decided to safely gather together here. Huddling around a bonfire, catching sunrise and sunset over the Gulf, taking in the sights of our 30A holiday decorations by bicycle, sifting the white sands of our beaches through your fingers…laughter and merrymaking still permeated our paths and parks, and for those moments of togetherness we are so very grateful. May this New Year bring beauty and graceful living to us all, and may you find a kickstart to both in the words and images of this Journal.
“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering, ‘It will be happier’…”
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892, British poet)
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice.” – T.S. Eliot (1888-1965, U.S.-born British poet, essayist, literary critic, playwright and editor)