"...and in with the New!"

I'll admit it. I did nothing to celebrate New Year's Eve and the changing of the calendar guard. And I rarely do.

Many moons have come and gone since last I attended any sense of a party or festive gathering for New Year's, and it's by choice. Just not my cup of tea, that's all. It's not that I'm anti-social or because I'm another year older now, it just doesn't appeal to me. Ah, but the real reason?

I can't stay up that late except in the rarest of circumstances.

When you start your day long before sunrise, there's only so much post-sunset time that can pass before the ol' body wants to go horizontal (and, no, I never learned the art of napping, either!). Shrek 2 came on ABC after the news and some fluff, and that will always get me to plop on the sofa and laugh at it all over again - always seeing something new in those movies! Then came Ryan Seacrest and ABC's New Year's Eve special with (eventually) Dick Clark appearing.

I didn't have any expectation that show would grip me with its content, therefore I wasn't disappointed when I shook my head and asked myself, "Why am I watching this schlock?" Let's just say I disappeared long before Dick Clark himself appeared.

Now, before you rate me as a fuddy duddy, which I'm anything BUT, part of my ho-hum approach to New Year's is that I truly look at each day as every holiday wrapped up into one. I am not one to 'aim' for a particular event and get all worked up over it, as a rule of thumb, even though I know a lot of people really enjoy doing that. Every day is full of gifts and new opportunities, though some will come off as 'no good horrible days' every once in a while. Too, when you focus heavily on something in the future, you are prone to overlook the magical little things that lie right under your nose...if you're able to be that aware all at once, more power to ya.

I also don't have to worry about being out on the roads with revelers that shouldn't be behind the wheel.

Here it is a beautiful cold day in the making, peaceful and quiet...looking at the weather reports from the northern tier of states and reading the snow/wind reports up at my brother's place outside of Boston. I've got a giant drawing pad I'll soon pick up as I sketch out new and bold flute designs, and ideas for other objets d'art...this is my creative time, and the coffee is going down mighty fine.

view SW into the Nantahala National Forest

A couple of days ago I took advantage of an unusually mild day to go recharge my Soul, which for me is getting into the North Carolina High Country. For many of you, water, lakes, oceans do the trick...for me, it's rocks and mountainous terrain. The Blue Ridge Parkway had few people on it, at least down toward the Nantahala section...in a way, just dawdling among scenery like this was my New Year's celebration of sorts (feel free to click on the pic to enlarge it and save it as wallpaper).

So here we are in a new year. Soon we'll make history and seat President-elect Obama and get on with the business of unburying ourselves from our myriad avalanches. We'll continue to deal with layoffs and store closings, and investment portfolios that may yet suffer more. We'll have plenty to be skeptical and gloomy about, yet have even more opportunities to rise above that and work hard at keeping a positive outlook in our daily lives. We are what we believe.

A new day. A new year. New opportunities. New choices to make. Take deep breaths. Appreciate the special people in your life. Bury any outstanding hatchets. Get on with the business of truly living and find ways to be of service to others. Embrace the sacredness of each sunrise and sunset. Storms can make gorgeous rainbows.

In short, a happy "new" year to all y'all!

Blessed be.