There is a nip in the air now with the colder weather, and a buzz too with more people out and about now that shops and pubs have reopened.
Let's hope it’s not a 'deadly buzz’, as the Irish like to say. But it is certainly nice to see smiles return to faces, having been washed bare like beaches, these past few months.
And with so many leaden hearts, under leaden winter skies, we see these things replaced now by more enthusiasm, interest and hope.
A new joie de vivre. And there is much to be thankful for, as families plan for the traditional Christmas feed, and hopefully it is all peppered with realism.