Wednesday
New Year's Day, 2020

Today I put away the lovely trappings of Christmas,

 - the angels and the Santa Claus my sister made so many years ago. 

 All the baubles, the garlands 

and so many of the candles...

I rehung the pictures that I had taken down,

 to make way for Christmas wreaths, 

the ones with red bows and pine and holly.

When I was finished, 

and everything was packed away

 lovingly for another year

 I looked around 

and was taken in by the stillness of the rooms,

and their readiness for the New Year

 that has come upon us this day....

I start off each year with a birthday, 

and this year the number of birthdays behind me

I find quite startling, 

but tomorrow I am ready for a celebration of the 95th.

   Gosh, just typing that number

 makes me extremely grateful 

for the years it represents, 

and for all the blessings of living -

 a wonderful childhood, 

a blessed marriage,

and now good health and a fairly active mind to accompany me

into the ancient years. 

 As I would say in Church, thanks be to God!

I spent a few hours today sleying the Glimakra

 with a lovely green linen warp -

all shades of green and different dents, 

so that the resulting cloth will be a nice springlike runner for a side table,

 - or maybe a summer scarf. 

 There is a gorgeous skein of olive green silk 

waiting to be a weft from heaven, 

and it seems to me that it has finally found its destiny.

It appears that January will be a great month, 

- nothing desultory about it but lots of challenges.

the amaryllis in full bloom

it brightens these misty January days...

A Happy New Year to all!!!