Today we begin anew the circular journey around a year. The trail is both familiar and unexplored. For while no two years are ever alike, there are many recognizable sights and sounds—many experiences which, to quote the wonderful Yogi Berra, will be like déjà vu all over again. But in truth, the 365 days ahead are mostly mystery. We just like to fool ourselves into thinking we know what we'll find along the way.
To make the round of the year is to travel again through the four seasons. Here, too, we like to think we have them pegged, know what to expect. And sometimes we do. But sometimes, the seasons make our suppositions appear foolish. For the seasons are really about weather—and weather is about as unpredictable as anything even a reckless gambler could choose to wager money on.
Will this winter be cold and snowy? Will spring come early or late? Will the summer be dry? How about next fall's color—prime or only so-so? You tell me, because I sure don't know, and I've made this year around trek an astonishing number of times for a kid who no one thought would live to see twenty. Yup, been there, done that, a bunch of times, and paid pretty good attention at least most of the time along the way…and I still don't what tomorrow will bring, let alone mid-July.
Frankly, I wouldn't want to know. There's comfort in ignorance, and room for the excitement of possibilities. Life is worthwhile because of its potential for adventure. Mystery is a good thing; often a blessing.
I'm happy to just take it step-by-step. Let the journey begin!
12 comments:
I agree with you, not that we have a choice. Omnipotence isn't a human trait, and ignorence must be bliss judging from the last election :)I always enjoy your pictures and your sage comments. Visit me if you have time and comment on my latest rant. Happy New Year to your house.
Debbie
Let life be a surprise! 'Cause it will be anyway ;) Goat kids will start being born here in about 6 weeks and the excitement of not knowing what they will be like is so enjoyable. There's such little real anticipation in life anymore---because everything is so planned out. But kidding restores adventure to life, for sure! Stevie@ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com
It's the temporary and permanent physical changes in the landscape, with each new season here, that draw me out to explore and discover. Mysteries to solve too! Right now I'm wondering what am I missing out there, but it's a cold 16 degrees....there's always tomorrow, hopefully!
HI GRIZZ - so beautifully written and the glorious photo of your ever moving river enhances your wise words. Each year promises change - peppered with some tradition and familiar. How well we/I know. :-)
Thanks for coming over to our bungalow-home, it was so good to "see" you...
Love Gail
peace.....
Debbie…
I'm not omnipotent? Well, ain't that a bummer! And here I thought the new year had started off pretty good.…
I'm glad you enjoy the posts and pics. I don't want to go out on a limb, but I'm going to try and do both more often this year. Of course I'm also going to try and go fishing more, and take more rambles in the woods and fields. Som I'm somehow going to have to come up with more time. I'll get back to you on that one.
Anyway, happy New Year! (Are you sure I'm not omnipotent?) :-D))
Stevie…
First off, welcome to the riverbank! I hope you like us and decide to visit often.
Now, as to kidding [for the livestock challenged, that's the birthing of new goats] being an adventure, I can well understand why. Not that I've ever raised goats, but I've been around them a bit, like them immensely, and once almost brought a little billy home as a pet. I consider the fact I've never lived where I could have goats to be one of my life's real failures—though I still hold out hope one of these days for rectification. I do know that goats are like the poster critters for surprises. "There's never a dull moment with a goat around," one of my goat-raising friends used to say…along with his occasional string of expletives, often shouted if their latest "surprise" wasn't yet under full control. Yup, goats can bring both surprise and adventure to one's life—though I'd say that surprise and adventure is more often viewed with trepidation than anticipation. But you probably don't want to know what the goats have in mind for your future.
Wanda…
Cold here, too; 11 degrees when I went out this morning, exactly twice that now. And like you, I can't help but wonder what I'm missing outside, what adventures might await. But doggone it, I have to work at the desk today. The best I can do is look out the window from time to time, watching the river and light, and the birds and squirrels and whatever critters appear in my field of view. The mystery just beyond the glass…
Gail…
The river looks pretty much the same today—though there's a bit more sun, so more sparkle. But it's ever-moving, ever-changing. And there are ducks and geese floating up and down, and herons fishing in the riffles. No two moment—just like no two years—are ever the same.
Hey, I'm glad you got moved into such a lovely place. It's exactly right. And I enjoyed the photos. Thank you for asking me over.
Your first photo makes me cold – but it is also beautiful. This week we will be in the 50s here- if we get snow if should be in January. We did not get any snow in 2012, maybe we will be lucky in 2013. I agree with you – it is wonderful to have unpredictable events coming up - new adventures, new people to meet, new customs, new books, new CDs to listen to and new challenges. I hope your 2013 will bring you great surprises.
Vagabonde…
That's reality—the cottage view of the river on the first day of this brand new year. Lovely, indeed, with its snowy white mantle. Seasonal, too. The right look for an Ohio river this time of year. Last winter we had hardly any snow, and I felt robbed, cheated out of a landscape I both expected and enjoy. I like winter, and hope this one doesn't decide to become a quasi-spring in mid-February and again fool my daffodils and crocus.
I don't want to know about the good stuff ahead. Much of life's delight and adventure lies in its unpredictability. But then, I don't want to know early about the inevitable tragedies, either. To have to watch something awful bear down upon you or your loved ones, would akin to becoming a dullard possum standing in the middle of the road, captivated by the twin headlights of the Buick that's soon to smash your life. No thanks. I'll take life as it comes, good and bad.
Let's just hope that for both of us, and all those who make our life what it is, every surprise in 2013 will be wonderful, a gift and blessing. Happy New Year!
The start of a new year is so exciting, all those lovely blank pages waiting to be filled. Like you I've no desire to know what lies ahead in either life or the turn of the seasons - just so long as I keep waking up on the sky side of the grass{:){:)
Rowan…
I really like that idea—that a year is 365 blank pages waiting to be filled. That's exactly how I view the journey ahead. Funny, though, how it seems like so much space—so much time—at the outset, yet when the 12 months are up, you look back and say…where did it all go?
However, the BIGGIE ACCOMPLISHMENT each and every day is indeed waking up on the say side of the grass. Comparatively speaking, everything else is a bummer.
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