Days best forgotten,

   

Or avoided.

 

Today is one of « those » days, one best ignored or forgotten.

 

Nothing particularly wrong with the day itself as it started off sunny

enough and fairly warm considering that we are in winter still and that February is usually the month of snow.

 

There was a lot to recommend it, other than the fact that it was a Monday, that I was meeting my younger son and wife for lunch, that my doctor’s appointment, although late yet again, was “normal” or what can be deemed so when one gets to my age.

 

But then the date hits: the second of February. This takes me back 26 years and although one would expect the loss to become less strong (and it is), a loss is still a loss and the persons left behind still notice the absence.

 

Most of the year, one ignores quite easily: the day of, not so much.

 

However, this too shall pass, to quote one of those much-used, who’s author is long forgotten, quotes.

 

R.I.P beloved husband, father, brother, friend 

Forget not!

 

" Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (6 Jan 1883-1931) 

One of my all-time favorite sites is A.Word.a.Day by http://wordsmith.org/

 

The above was today’s thought for the day.

 

And in this world, I greatly needed Kahlil Gibran’s reminder that sometimes the simplest of things are the most necessary.

 

Disasters surround us on all sides, the world seems to become a more dangerous place by the day, but we should always keep in mind that, for me, one of the main things, as long as we are alive, is to enjoy the fact; to enjoy those around us, to help others less fortunate, to empathize with those having struggles, in short to be “human”.

 

And what better to keep us grounded than to connect with nature. If I choose not to follow Gibran’s words today, it is because it is -1° Celsius outside and the wind would only freeze me. Still, isn’t it always the “thought that counts”? I can relive in my head moments where I was able to go barefoot in the grass or feel the wind in my hair on some mountain peak.

 

In with the Old!

My son asked me this morning “what are your wishes, your ideas on this New Year? Where do you want to go, what do you want to do or change?

 

But even before he asked the question, one of my first thoughts upon awaking this morning was I will get back to blogging.

 

I have not blogged for over a year: why? Who knows. But since it isn’t an obligation, let’s just say that life got in the way.

 

Now however, perhaps with the passing of the years, I find that instead of wanting to say “In with the New and out with the Old”, that although new is sometimes, perhaps even often, a positive, neglecting the old can be harmful.

 

So, no resolutions. I have never done New Year’s resolutions.

But rather, I would like to bring back more of the old into my life. More reading, more writing, more photography, more actually doing those photo albums that have lain way too long here on my desk, more sorting, more getting rid of the unnecessary.

 

As to the “new”: a continuation of the old – family, friends, the things that make a life worth living.

 

So, whatever you choose, may 2026 be a Good Year, old and new combined into something unique to oneself.

 

January 1, 2025