EVERY SECOND COUNTS

What a grim year 2024 has turned out to be. And I don’t just mean the man child back in the White House, the extremists he has surrounded himself with, the huge power they wield and their ushering in of an age of untruths.

I am talking about matters far closer to home. Here are the headlines.

After 24 years farming and running a casa rural for guests from around the world we are retiring and heading into town; to a flat, somehow decanting or discarding a lifetime of possessions to fundamentally change course. We must learn to measure our strides. It is so sad that the current chapter, this adventure on the edge of a Priorat wilderness, must end. But we have no choice. Suddenly age and the horrible consequences have on our knees.

I have been in hospital three times this autumn with an auto immunity issue. It is not helped by stress and relentless toil and my forgetting my age (66).

I will figure and, fingers crossed, fight back against mortality this time. The signs are good.

But….

Maggie has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Living the day and at a manageable pace has suddenly become an imperative. I find myself as a carer, though these are early days and I need to be firing on all cylinders first. Through all of this the huge positives have been the unconditional love, support and kindness of our children and family and, underlined, vital friends here in the heart of Catalonia. Maggie has been so brave too, facing up to such stark realities. Beyond the shock of diagnosis losing her beautiful farm hurts beyond measure.

But we will not leave the area and have never waivered from the simple reality that the Priorat is and always will be home.

There are so many reasons to be grateful, not least our good fortune in finding this beguiling place in the first place, the experience and challenge, the trust, the goodness. We leave the farm in early 2025, setting about clearing it of clobber gleaned over the years, then we will put it on the market hoping to wave goodbye to our debts. We are determined to savour every second we are blessed with, but that acceptance is not going to come overnight.

We will be back and forth to the Auditori in Barcelona and others (we love them all, two Auditori concerts already booked). Maggie was the first woman house manager at the Wigmore Hall recital venue in London and music is in her veins. Mine too throughout our 30 years together. We will savour walks on the wild side and learn to just be. We will explore Iberia some more and we will share time with those we love. These are aspirations, of course. But we are positive people and we have each other and a great many things others do not, including lifetimes of memories. May they give us strength.

Yes, live the day.