Thinking of the Year

It's the last day of the year... well, it's the last evening, anyway. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I still have yet to close all the windows. The sun set in a blaze of fuchsia, orange, and turquoise, and even as the last few rosy hues faded from the sky, the birds were still singing their odes to the close of the year.

Our house is still decked in Christmas accessories, but this year, I don't feel the urgency to purge them immediately as the calendar turns. We see our evergreen in a new light this time around, and appreciate it's reminder of the green to come as Spring draws closer and closer.

I'm in a thoughtful mood as I sit and see the old year out. The promise of the new, the uncharted, the promising, and the unknown is almost tangible in the atmosphere tonight. Even the stars seem a little more sparkly, a little closer, like they too want to absorb as much as they can of this last day.

In actuality, it is an arbitrary day, another day in the course. But something ingrained in us all, something primitive and ancient, senses the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one, and we all hold our breaths and close our eyes as we reach the pinnacle and gather the momentum we need to burst into the next rotation. It is a process that demands a pause, a little suspense, and a touch of respect. An arbitrary day that is by all means quite significant. After all, without milestones, how would we ever justify the reframing, recalibrating, and refreshing that seems so necessary as we forge ahead into the unknown?

I have gone many years without a New Years' Resolution, but I feel like that tradition might deserve a little consideration, perhaps, if looked at in a different light. I do not intend to start this coming year with a list of goals that conjure up an oppressive sense of obligation and guilt. I do, however, intend to meditate (for lack of a better word) on what I expect out of myself and my circumstances in the next oncoming seasonal cycle. I also will give equal thought to the circumstances that brought me to this point.

"Those who cannot remember the past 

are condemned to repeat it."

~George Santayana

 

So on this, the last day of the year, I sit back, breathe in the fresh air floating through my house, listen to the sounds of the atmosphere winding down, and think back on the past... because on the border between the years, what lies on each side is equally important to me. Happy New Year.

Henny's First

 

 

 

 

 
Henny's first trip to the park today... a beautiful success.