NEW YEAR'S DAY 2012

A favourite cartoon from my youth...and I still enjoy The Broons. This is not recent, but it remains amusing. One regret about living in Canada is that it is exceedingly difficult to get the comic annuals. I miss those books. The year has begun with bright sun shining. I hope that bodes well for our family, both the close and extended families. There are big changes afoot for some of us - cousins are moving to undertake new and exciting projects, and doubtless will have many interesting adventures along the way. Catriona has some long planned trips on her agenda, and we hope that she pursues those options this year. Nigel - fingers crossed - will be gainfully employed on a long-term project. If not, he will be farming in Nova Scotia, which is also a lovely option. I shall continue with my regular employment, teaching junior high English to a delightful group of pupils at a decent government school. I think I shall travel during July and August, but the destination is not yet formalised. There are a couple of options: a road trip in North America, or a visit to Scotland and possibly with an extension to the UK or Europe. Resolutions - not yet considered, but I shall make three resolutions for this year, I think. Three is enough. One will somehow be connected with Catriona's challenge to me. She challenged me to prepare for a long-distance hike, perhaps along the Appalachian Trail. One resolution will involve specific goals associated with the physical preparations for that hike. The other two remain unresolved - unspeculated actually. I'll mull them over today and formulate them later this afternoon. Nigel and I must drive from Durham, New Hampshire to Saint John, New Brunswick today. We are due there at 1730 today...and we must leave half an hour ago to make it in time. ,

HOGMANAY

Hogmanay preparations. Our evening promises to be one of quiet reflection, scintillating conversation with cousins, and a gentle toast for the pending year. Hogmanay, in Scotland, traditionally was celebrated with 'first footing', when a dark man would arrive on the doorstep with a chunk of coal, a piece of shortbread, some black bun, a packet of salt, and a bottle of whiskey (preferably single malt). We might have to create a suitably similar scenario here this evening.

Nigel took me out for supper on my birthday. We went to Cafe Compose in Annapolis Royal, where we ate a delicious Viennese meal (schnitzel). We sauntered along the boardwalk afterwards.

The sunsets last week were lovely. The air is still chilly, but the sky has been beautiful.

And then there is the gentle slide into the gloaming, accompanied by the melancholy of the mauve evening light and cool breezes whisping in on-shore.

In the gloaming, oh my darling / When the lights are soft and low / And the quiet shadows falling / Softly come and softly go / When the trees are sobbing gently / With a ...gentle unknown woe / Will you think of me and love me / As you did once, long ago?

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/751

We have had a lovely show of tulips this spring. They have bloomed in the small garden just behind the sunroom. I love tulips...they add such a joyous touch to the spring.

Nigel and I enjoyed a delicious bbq hamburger, cooked by himself, on the barbecue on the deck. It was still too chilly to sit outside to eat, so we retired to the sunroom for our meal. But that delightful bbq taste was there. Although we only had hamburgers, somehow, they were epicurean.