New Year's Eve

An unbelievable 59F this morning, raining. We had doors open and the heat off all day today and yesterday. 

A battery candle in a 100 year old sugar bowl combines old and new into a beautiful glow.

Here we are again, marking the end of one year, and the birth of the next. It is very quiet at my house right now, only Mountain Stage on the radio and soft rain pattering on the roof. Larry in napping so that he can be awake at midnight. And to tell the truth, it is dark as midnight at the moment. Only our man-made clocks can tell the difference. And who knows if they really know?

We got through yesterday, attending visitation before both funerals, which were scheduled just an hour apart.  I found I could not handle staying for either funeral, but talking with and hugging the families was really the best thing. I feel that funeral services are really something for the families, a private time. 

Today I have been packing away Christmas.  I will miss the glitter and brightness of the lights and decorations; they certainly lift my spirits. I have left the tree up for another day or two, or maybe it will stay until Old Christmas.  

I have been thinking about this coming year and what goals I have. One I have been mulling over is to do more of what I love. The problem is, I like to do so many things! So how to narrow down the list? But one thing that has been missing from our lives is travel. We haven't really gone anywhere since 2019, and although I have not minded and really, I enjoy being home very much, still I think we need a change of scene.

We both want to go back to England and Ireland. We both want to see New Orleans, and have never seen the Grand Canyon. Will we be able to afford trips like that, with the cost of everything going up daily? Or should we focus instead on somewhere closer, more doable? Questions, questions.

Other goals are to try to keep one day a week work-free. I don't mean housework, which has to be done even i you-know-where were to freeze over. But booth work can completely suck us both in. We enjoy it and often don't realize how much time we spend at it. 

Have you been thinking about the same things? Have you chosen goals for 2023? 

Wherever you are, I wish you a year of peace, plenty, joy, and abundant love. And, as Drew Holcomb just sang on the radio, go slay all the dragons that stand in your way!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.