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Happy New Year!

January 1st, 2011

Here in the hills of Brown County, the old year went out with a rumble and a roll of thunder. A small earthquake on the 30th (my birthday) reminded us that Mother Nature is alive and well, and she followed that up with a thunderstorm last night. The new year started out with sunny skies but soon clouded over and the familiar greys of winter surround us. The warm temperatures and rain did away with our layer of snow and the faded green of last summer’s grass assures me that spring will come again. The chickens and ducks are happy at the snow’s absence, scratching in the revealed leaves for sleeping bugs and lost seeds. At the feeders, starlings fight over the suet and red cardinals deck the trees, waiting their turn.

With the new year come resolutions, wishes and good intentions. To clean the house, to lose weight, get in better shape. Practical goals, lofty goals, mere wishes that will likely not come true. Paint more, be nicer, learn Spanish. Grow a better garden, learn to knit, open my mind, be more adventurous. Get a tan, be a better friend, learn something new at least once a week. I’ve never been one who placed a lot of store in New Year’s resolutions, after all what makes the beginning of the year any different than any other time? Can we only resolve and promise and strive to improve in this one window in time? But this year I am seeing the worth of winter’s quiet and solitude as a time to set goals, to take stock, and hopefully direct my life on a brighter course. So perhaps my earliest resolution is to make this time of  isolation into a time of emersion and cleansing. A detox from life if you will, getting rid of clutter, both tangible and imagined. Sort through the closet, keep the things that fit. Sort through dreams, keep the ones that are attainable. But keep that pretty dress which I haven’t worn, because someday I’ll have a reason to. Keep that one lofty dream, because I want to have something difficult to strive for. Life is full of challenges, some we have no control over. But at this one time of year, we get to make some choices, to pick the challenges we think we’re up to. Choose wisely, choose carefully. Don’t set yourself up to fail, but don’t make it too easy either.

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