Footprints 

👤 Geoff

I read (in 1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson) that because there is no weather on the Moon, the footprints of the twelve men who walked on it are still there.

What must it be like to leave so lasting an impression? Being the beginning of another year it started me thinking about what kind of footprints I'm leaving behind - the ones already impressed on 2025 and those I am about to make in 2026

The idea of footprints is a powerful one, attested by the ubiquitous Footprints in the Sand (usually called a poem, though I can't see why - it's clearly prose). Without wanting to spoil what is a very reassuring and meaningful piece of work for many, I think I prefer Tim Vine's ending: 'When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I thought it would be fun if we both hopped for a bit'.

In the biography Sir David Jason, A Life of Laughter by Stafford Hildred and Tim Ewbank, we discover that the well-loved actor has always been someone who cannot stand still for long. After his long and successful acting career, and aged a mere 69, he 'swapped his bus pass for a helicopter pilot's licence':

He said, 'It's taken me quite a long time to achieve, but I finally got it . . . just at the age when most people are retiring. You've got to have something to aim at if you want to get off the ground and go places, haven't you?' (p xviii)

What are your plans for this year? What are you aiming for? What will get you 'off the ground and going places'? What kind of footprints do you want to leave behind?