A new year

Wow. Very Strange. I decided to write something and I got published before I finished the title!!

This whole "new year" thing has me baffled. First of all, it never feels like the start of the year. I am not sure if that is because it all happens in the darkest part of the year, or what. For as long as I can remember it has not felt like something "new." It is almost as though the date just got dropped there. What begins anew (excepting the calendar)? School is in session, winter is already here, all the deciduous plants are deep in hibernation, football season hasn't even ended yet, and riding weather is still quite a ways in the future. We do our weird little celebratory thing...be it sending helium balloons into the cold night air, making war-like noises with explosives, sipping champagne with loved ones, or watching a movie snuggled up with a blanket on the couch. Some of us watch the slow demise of Dick Clark. Am I just a real fuddy duddy? I am afraid to go out on the roads. The bars and Casinos begin to fill up by noon on December 31st. People actually go bar-hopping. I really don't get it.

So, with that said, I chose to start the New Year as I ended the old one. Mucking the barn. The snow is almost gone now, but it is a chilly 28 degrees as I write this. Many of the rhodies didn't survive the big snow. They are all pretty old and quite leggy. The weight of the snow has broken the limbs right off. I will try cutting them way back and see if they survive. If not, something will replace them. The animals got a good run in. I think all are happy to have the white stuff gone.

Yesterday Kate and I took the trip to my sister's place. It is a rather nice two hour drive from here. However the ice and snow made me a bit more cautious. Within five minutes of my arrival the snow began to fall. While I was tempted to jump in the truck and take off for home, I chose to stay and have a great day. The new place is really quite nice. I loved their old farm as well, but this one has quite quickly taken a little spot in my heart. The great news is that the old place has sold so no more double mortgages. The bad news is that my sister has to be the fix it arms for the next six months. Poor Ron. He has so much he wants to be doing to get the farm up to snuff, and cannot do a thing. My hope is that he follows the surgeons orders. I must admit he is the first guy I have ever known that has a major orthopedic procedure done and, short of the cast on his arm, you would never know it. Then again, he also went three or four days with his bicep muscle up in his shoulder before he even went to get it checked out. Ouch. So, any way, they loved the ornaments. I had started to doubt my choice of gifts. Would I want a picture of myself on a Christmas ornament? Hmmmm. So, I wrapped them up, didn't put names on them and gave each one, not knowing which was going to open which. My reasoning was that perhaps she would better like a picture of him, and vice versa. In reality, it was all about the horses. So, my New Year's resolution will be to stop doubting myself so much. I will go with my first instinct and try not to second guess myself. Now if I can just figure out when MY new year starts!

G2