Clodagh Finn: Starting now, this is the year we need to embrace the great outdoors

It's nearly half-past January and the grand stretch is kicking in. So put on that hat, get to an outdoor café, wrap your hands around a hot coffee, and start becoming a true outsider

Hats off to business owners who responded to the crisis by initiating outdoor hospitality — and hats on to their customers who support them even as the wintry chill sets in. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

There is a certain relief in making it to the  second week of January. The battle cry to live your best life — that awful, goading phrase — has subsided and the grand auld stretch in the evenings is visible at last.

It’s not that new year’s resolutions aren’t  seductive. Who doesn’t want to shimmy out of last year’s skin and step into a new one?