In with new out with the old, Happy New Year

The first of the year is a time when tradition says one should reflect on the year past and prepare for the year ahead. The nice thing about a blogg or any type of journal is that they provide a glimpse of how the writer felt and maybe what was important to the writer right then and there at that time not later after other opinions and views are introduced that may sway the writer in a different direction. I keep two “journals” one is my blogg the other is my day calendar. The blogg is less personal than the calendar and I keep it as positive as possible. The very nature of a blogg is to be open to all. Any who want to read it can, so to me the most personal of things are not voiced there. The calendar on the other hand list’s when I worked, doctor appointments, accidents, deaths, visits and vacations. It is where I staple movie stubs and right little cryptic notes to myself. I can review what gifts I gave to whom and what was given to me (I would not want to re-gift to the wrong person;-)) I like looking back in my calendars, I have a box full of them, I find old letters and photos in them. They are my diaries. My blogg is a diary of sorts I also I review it from time to time, looking back on what I have written noticing the spelling and grammar mistakes cringing sometimes at what I said but I don’t change anything. I like the photos I share on the blogg. I like trying to express to others what it is like to live where I am and how I feel. The difference is that you can’t touch the blogg. You can’t look at the hand writing and tell what emotion was being felt at the time it was written. Bloggs are great things but the hand written word is much more expressive.

After reviewing the above calendar and blogg I can see that this past year, except for a one very major tragedy, has been the same as most. I have had a quiet year, kinda, my main focus being getting my youngest son through the next year and a half of school and preparing for my relocation to the mountains. My family is the most important thing to me and except for my youngest sister things are good. My boys are healthy, my mom well she’s my mom; as aggravating as ever. My brother and his wife who live outside New Orleans are back in their home. My niece and her family were relocated to Norfolk so I have had the absolute privilege of getting to really know her and her family, not just know about them. This move has also allowed my niece’s mother, my older sister, and I to have something more in common to talk about and may bring us closer together.

I have to say that I have been lucky this past year. I have a job, a home and good health. I have not agreed with the way the world is going and I am not happy with the political environment. The wars invoked in the name of “good”, “god” and “democracy” angers me. Global warming worries me. I do not watch the news because it is so negative. To me this is a dark time BUT I see hope for the future. We are a resilient species. We will progress beyond this weather we want to or not. Either human will and the use of technology or natures wrath will cause the species to switch directions and become more planet friendly. I believe in humanity. I believe we are all family and there is nothing more important to me than family. I believe the future hold much for us all.

For me personally I am hoping for another “normal” uneventful year. I hope my work stays steady. I hope my garden does better this year. I hope I can get up to the mountains a few times and maybe make it to the family reunion (it’s an Irish theme this year). I hope my boys stay well and that my #2 son is able to move out (again). A normal mundane life is fine with me.

Happy New Year