This is it, folks: 2011 is waning and 2012 is waxing. I have to admit that I am not so sad to see 2011 go and I must say I do love January. January, the month of my birth and a nice month to fold in and gain strength for another year. I enjoy beginning new projects and taking a long look at where I've been that got me to where I am.
I am not a big ringer-in of the New Year in the commercial sense. I think New Year's Eve is a pretty plastic and commercial event. People spend too much on too much food, eat and drink to excess, and drive themselves to dangerousness on slick roads. People feel bad if they have no one to kiss at midnight. Some folks decide to end it all rather than face another year of whatever they've been facing. Nope. Not for me at all. I like to stay in, write the final poem of the year, reflect, regroup, re-energize. I actually went to bed at 715 last night in preparation for this. My eldest daughter is here from CA (she is cooking tonight's meal) and her only child (grandson who goes to college in NH) and his girlfriend, and our eldest grandson is here too. He moved in with us in late September. We will hopefully play a board game or two and maybe watch a movie. I may stay in my jammies all day. I will kiss my hubby at midnight (he will be asleep) and will call our kids out west. It will be 9 PM there but maybe the grandkids will be up. All in all, I anticipate a sweet low-key evening.
BUT... I have a task. I must write the final poem of 2011 before midnight. When will I do it? Usually the poem is done sometime between 10 PM and midnight. I will pay attention all day today for just the right moment. Then, after midnight, I will write the first poem of 2012. I will feel good about both. I will check off another pair of poems that link the years.
As another year slips off into the fog (literally), I feel blessed to be alive, to have reasonable health, and to have a mind that won't rest. I am grateful to be a writer, to be a person with something to say. I thank my parents for putting me on this planet with much to do. I am thankful that I am never bored. I am thankful for my family, with all its warts and wonders. I am thankful for my husband who is the one person in this world who comes the closest to really "knowing" me. He pays attention, and is right there whenever I am in need of support and encouragement, and in times when I need to be reeled in a bit. What a guy! My poem, Polaris, says it all:
Polaris
On our January porch, hands
open to starshine, we are pierced
by Polaris. It's a stigmata I feel
as my right palm presses
your right palm, fingers laced.
It's a burning, a covenant. Later
in our bedroom, some shine
on your shoulder where I touch
as you drift into your own night
sky. We have been pierced
by starpoints, filled with light.
We sail on it, I your compass, true
North, and you my lantern
and flame, tower and beam.
I wrote this for him in 2010.
So what am I looking ahead to for 2012? Here's a quick tenner:
1. reducing, reusing, recycling with a verve!
2. getting the laundry room finished (we are some trim and a step and a door from done) and make the pantry a reality (paint, shelves, organize and move pots and pans to that space)
3. finishing my novel
4. finding a home for my manuscripts (The Boyfriend Project and Psalms From the Commons)
5. embarking on the Wilbur study and reading/writing on it every day
6. becoming more physically fit
7. going to the beach at least 10 times this summer
8. the annual reorganization of my book shelves
9. writing physical letters to my grandkids
10. calling far away friends once a week (pick a friend, call)
I think this is a reasonable list. Most things on it rely upon my ability to stay on target. #4 is a matter of send out and pray.
#2 is not exactly up to me. The pantry part has some jobs for me, but the laundry room not so much. I have curtains to do out there, but depend on Domenic to finish the rest.
I would add a reading component to the list as there are a few books here which are as yet untouched or partially read. So if I had #11, it would be to read them.
I guess #12 might be something about being a better blogger. Oh yes, I am doing ok in this regard, but not daily which was my original plan. Will try to do better.
And on that note, as my tea is nearly done, I will depart to the real world and begin the winding down and winding up that is New Year's Eve.
Blessings to all of you. Bring a friend or more to the blog!
CWB
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