Countdown to the new

A hearty welcome to not-exactly-new blogger Timothy Green, who is a fine poet & editor. Stop by his place and say hi!

* * * * *

Hard to remember, in this unseasonably warm weather, that the end of the year is practically upon us. Resolutions, anyone?

I have several goals for the new year, which are for the most part not so much quantifiable achievements as changes in the way I look at things. We'll see how that works out. For one thing, I want to pay attention to what's truly important and remember to make space for it.

I think the cats have resolved to take more naps. That's actually kind of a great resolution, when you think about it. (Bear is fulfilling said resolution even as we speak, sacked-out on his back next to me here on the couch. What a life.)

* * * * *

Today I went to the Starbucks down the road from me to splurge on a white chocolate mocha and read Charlie's chapbook. (I'd read many of the poems before, but reading them in the context of the whole collection definitely adds something. Good stuff.) I was wearing a t-shirt from the Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui, and the cashier guy commented on it, said he'd seen dolphins once but had never seen a whale in the wild and really wanted to. That started me thinking about how lucky I am, in my life. I may drive a 15-year-old rusty car and live in a little bitty falling-apart house, but I have seen whales in the wild, have looked around to find myself surrounded by them, can summon up the sound of humpbacks breathing in my memory. In a lot of ways I guess I don't have much, but what I've got is good. It's a good life. I feel lucky to be able to say that.

Luck to all y'all in the new year!