(I donned celebratory accessories briefly on New Year’s Eve, although I had already taken off my slightly dressier shirt because I splashed barbecue sauce on it! And in the interest of full disclosure, my lights were off by 10 PM!)
How did it get to be a new year already? And a new decade? Are you kidding me? Fifty (yes, 50!) years since I graduated from high school. That’s the roundest number that coincides with the date.
But as I have walked and otherwise spent my time this week, I have found myself reflecting and thinking about… everything. It seems only right that I would come up with a post this week, but somehow I find myself unable or unwilling, perhaps, to commit those thoughts to “paper.”
We had the typical Southern meal for New Year’s Day- black eyed peas (often the only time I cook them all year), collard greens (love me some greens but prefer mustard, kale, and turnip), barbecued pork tenderloin (not exactly part of the usual meal), and cornbread (real cornbread- no flour, no egg, no sugar).
But somehow I still wasn’t feeling it. So no year-end recap. No resolutions. Just these words to guide my new year and new decade: Brave. Health. Faith. Love. Hope. These things, always.
(My amaryllis bulbs are blooming earlier than usual this year. Maybe that happened to help soften my mood. When I was growing up in Boone, my mother always had one bright red amaryllis which usually bloomed in late January, in the depths of those long, cold mountain winters, bringing life and hope to the darkness.)
Again: Brave. Health. Faith. Love. Hope. These things, always.
bethdlayton 