November arrives as the year ebbs away.

November arrives as the year ebbs away.

If somebody had told you at the beginning of the year that 2017 would prove to be one of the most terrifying and tumultuous years of recent times then you'd have probably told them they were just over- reacting, over sensitive and a complete misery guts. Besides we all get those difficult and challenging years when nothing seems to go according to plan.

 But we should have known better. The year revealed itself rather like some ugly parody of an old joke and as November dawns it may be time to take stock again, shake our heads in utter bewilderment and then wonder if it did really happen. The truth is that disaster, tragedy and political upheaval has taken place and poor old Big Ben, one of London's most visible of tourist landmarks, is in desperate need of a thorough clean up and major structural repairs. It could be a while before the old bell rings out across the capital city.

The chimes have now been silenced and November is here yet again. My wife and I share a birthday in November at opposite ends of the month so that's most convenient and in the final weeks leading up to that triumphantly festive month of the year the nation prepares itself for the great Christmas festivities. Yes folks Christmas and, of course, Chanukah are launching an elaborate campaign to empty our wallets and bank accounts. The yearly Christmas decorations are about to light up Oxford and Regent Street and that bloke with the red coat and white beard is about to be rolled out in all his traditional December finery.

So here we are in November and a cold re-appraisal of the year is quite right and proper. Surely the year can only be considered to be one of the most dreadful, awful and heartbreaking of all time. There were the unforgivable atrocities in London and Manchester, terrorism at its most disgraceful and utterly repulsive. There can be no words to describe the pain and suffering that both London and Manchester have been forced to endure, the death and destruction that have visited two of Britain's finest cities.

Here we are so close to the end of 2017 and our feelings have been numbed by a series of events that have once again served as a torturous reminder that the whole issue of personal safety and security in both London and Manchester can never be overlooked at any time. In a sense both London and the rest of the country as a whole has always been vulnerable and susceptible to terrorist attacks on the mainland. The truth is though that this is the time to be more guarded, vigilant and wary than ever before.

Then at the beginning of the year, the whole world waited with bated breath as a 70 plus, once bankrupt multi millionaire businessman became the 45th President of the United States. We are now 11 months into what can only be allegedly described as a farcical charade and Donald Trump, according to some, is still behaving like one of those jolly court jesters at the round table of King Arthur. There are those who believe that Trump is one of the most muddled and unintelligible American presidents of all time but I couldn't possibly comment.

Impartial observers such as myself would never dream of passing judgment on Trump because it's all been well documented and you must have seen the living proof. The press conferences have been knee jerk reactions to events over which he has no control and if anybody dares challenge his supreme authority at the Oval Office or White House they may have to face the wrath of Donald.

In the now global social media merry-go- round that is Twitter, Donald Trump has now become one of its most famous subscribers. To describe Trump as some misguided reactionary may be untrue to some extent but what are we to make of the man's behaviour so far? Does a man holding perhaps one of the most important and influential positions in world politics quite know what he's doing when the only statements he can make are those restricted to 140 characters and are so randomly controversial that it's safe to assume that he can only have alienated most of the universe by now.

Yesterday Mr Trump delivered his daily discourse on the world according to Donald and towards the end of his latest press conference suddenly found himself in a bit of verbal bother with his grammar. Here is a man who believes quite emphatically that he is the greatest president the United States have ever had, a man of enormous intellect, splendid gifts of observation and perception and a sophisticated eloquence that none of his critics could ever find fault with.

It may be true indeed that Trump may well be considered for the Nobel Prize for both Peace and Literature one day. Sadly and realistically most of us have now discovered something we probably knew anyway. Our worst fears have now been confirmed and with Thanksgiving now weeks away, the American people will have to decide whether they can possibly take any more of this. Of course Trump is entitled to his opinions but when those opinions look to be both forthright and distressingly dogmatic, lines have to be drawn and judgments questioned.

So it is that we enter November and outside the first fireworks are making their distinctive announcements of the month. It may well be that even though the year hasn't quite fulfilled the burgeoning promises of January, we can still believe that 2017 can redeem itself with a massive New Year's Eve party to remember. But how badly will we miss the resounding chimes of that famous old clock next to the House of Commons? Still it will make the most temporary comebacks on the last day of the year. It is time though to acknowledge noble November. It is indeed a month of considerable charm.