Alida

I bought this new to me Tartan dress from ebay.

I had visions of wearing a Tartan dress for New Years' Eve - but by the time it arrived, four out of the five who live in my house were Covid positive and we were all in bed before midnight.

 To cheer myself up I re-read my old posts and discovered that in December 2012 I wore a dress a day and named them all.

I decided today I would revive that practise.

As it's tartan I knew I had to give it a Scottish name.

Alida was the first name that sprang to mind,

Although the name is German in origin (and means 'Of noble kin'), Alida  was the name of a feisty Scottich girl I knew briefly at university.

Alida was not the most beautiful girl I have ever met, but she is definitely amongst the most charismatic.

There was something about Alida.

She was funny, clever and strong - at least that is how she came across to me.

Alida had dark curly hair, expressive eyes and always looked on the verge of a big hearty laugh.

At the time she was going out with the gorgeous fellow student who had actually attended the same sixth form colllege as me.

I remember my new friends being so jealous because he actually spoke to me (although it was only after a Merrydown-emboldened moment in the Students Union bar when I spoke to him and reminded him that we were both Eccles College alumi.)

But you couldn't be jealous of Alida - she was so warm and friendly and they just looked so right together.

By the time I arrived at university, Alida was in her final year, so apart from those heady first few weeks of term, our paths rarely crossed.

 I have no idea if they stayed together or forged their own paths.

By the third term I had started to discover what made me happy and have lots of fun - I didn't give a second thought to Alida and Adonis.

Until today - 36 years later.

At the moment I am feeling a sense of loss of myself (for various reasons) and I guess I am channelling a little of that brave and bold Scottish warrior spirit that Alida possessed.

I was hoping to wear the dress today but after feeling a little rough and testing positive for Covid I am still in yoga pants and a jumper.

But I do look forward to getting acquainted with Alida soon, even if for the first week the farthest  I will go is the end of the garden.

Happy New Year.

PS: If you want to know the difference between Tartan and Plaid here is a great article.