One Last Day

It's the last day of the year...

the last day before we start another trip around the sun.

I find myself feeling a little nostalgic for the year that has just passed...

a year full of precious memories...

365 days full of extraordinary life and ordinary miracles.

We've laughed, we've cried, we've loved and lost.

We've seen things we never imagined we'd ever see.

We tried our best to live each day to the fullest...

taking nothing for granted.

And now, we look forward to the year that lies in front of us...

each sunrise, each sunset, and each moment between.

In truth, we greet each day blindfolded...

with no knowledge of what lies ahead.

We blindly place one foot in front of the other and walk into the future,

never knowing our destination.

It is our task to enjoy the journey...

savoring each moment as it unfolds... as if it were our last.

And so, today, we hold close the memories of the passing year,

and look forward to the adventure of the coming year.

We dream, we scheme, we plan...

never knowing where the road will take us.

No matter what... life is a grand adventure...

precious moments strung together like pearls.

I love the New Year's holiday.

To me it signifies a fresh start.

The Christmas holiday is passed... forever tucked away as sweet memories in my heart.

The decorations are stowed.

The house is clean and re-organized.

My soul is filled with dreams and schemes...

my mind is full of ideas... swirling around and percolating.

And even though I have no control over the future,

I delight in planning for it.

There is still so much to learn... so much to try.

My list is long.

My goals for the coming year revolve around doing as much as I can to

decrease our carbon footprint.

 Having climbed aboard the Slow Food Movement years ago,

I am giving much thought to the Slow Fashion movement as well.

(We can talk about that some time if you are interested!)

My mantra will be... consume less.

Reuse. Recycle. Repurpose.

When at all possible... make it myself.

This past weekend, I removed the pinecones and snowflakes from the pig trough 

that I used for my dining room centerpiece.

Where, in the past, I might have headed out to the craft store for something

to fill it, I decided to use what is around me.

It seemed the perfect place to use the bush full of dry limelight hydrangeas.

And so, I cut them and arranged them on the dining room table.

Perfect!

At least I thought they were perfect.

But, apparently Ivy had other ideas...

It's a sort of metaphor for life.

We arrange... it get's a little messy... we re-arrange.

The messy, itself, has just as much value as the neatly arranged.

Don't you think?