Don Your Way column: Back, ready and raring to go for 2020 after the Christmas break

Regular readers will have known this column, taking a sideways (and yes, sometimes angry look at life) used to run regularly in print in the Doncaster Free Press up until the tail end of last year.

Well, sadly, there’s no room at the inn in the print product of the paper anymore, so sadly, you’ll just have to put up with my meanderings and thoughts online only.

Facebook and the DFP website are going to be the new homes for my regular take on what’s going on in my life and Doncaster, so whether you’re a brand new reader or a regular, welcome back.

And it was actually my partner who urged me to get back in front of the keyboard (although, obviously, I’ve never been away from it in my capacity as a news reporter).

You’ve probably noticed I’ve been out of circulation for a while.

Like most, I’ve succumbed to the dreaded lurgy that has been doing the rounds this winter, that horrible coughing bug which seems to have dragged on for weeks and weeks and hit virtually everyone I know.

Fortunately, it subsided enough for the Christmas and New Year festivities, although this year’s celebrations were a quieter and more subdued affair than normal.

I’m sure that this week will be the first full working back for many – and there's plenty out there who will be finding it a real slog.

Two weeks of stuffing yourself with food and drink and lazing around in front of the telly doesn’t exactly make for being full of energy, vigour and verve by the time the decorations come down and you have to get yourself back in the work or school groove.

I'm not really one to submit to the annual list of New Year’s Resolutions, but if you are, good luck at whatever you’re trying to knock on the head as we start the 2020s.

That said, I still tend to get reflective at the end of each year, looking back at the highs and lows of the previous 12 months and wondering what the next 12 have in store.

On a personal level, 2019 was a pretty good one on many different fronts – in fact, the best for many a year.

I’m not one for putting the ins and outs of my whole life into this column however, but suffice to say, out of bad has come good – and that’s enough for me.

2020 promises to be a challenging one on so many fronts for Britain – whatever your stance on Brexit and it will be interesting to see just how things unfold in the coming months and years ahead.

As for me, well, I’ll be getting into your ribs and under the skin of what’s going off in Doncaster – the annoyances, the irritants, the downright quirky, the weird and wonderful of everyday life in our town.

So come with me and we’ll go off to explore 2020 together and all that it brings.

And if you have something you’d like to tell me, message through [email protected] or follow me on Twitter @DarrenBurkeSYN