And never brought to mind?

Of course not.

It’s been a turbulent year. We have lost people dear to us, gained new precious ones to look over, and tasted bitter and sweet in our careers and home life. It has, perhaps, been the most life-affecting year of this decade for P and I.

As once written (or interpreted, if you want to be precise) by the gud Rabbie Burns:

“We twa hae run about the braes¹,
and pu’d the gowans² fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit³,
sin auld lang syne.”

So, we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Raise a dram on 2010 and roll on 2011. We are ready for you.

¹ hills
² pulled the daisies
³ wandered many a weary foot

Winter Pagan Festival Tree, originally uploaded by framboise.

Finally, 5 years after having first seen them in Trader Joe’s, I bought myself a rosemary plant trimmed to look like a fir tree.

Hope everyone’s enjoying whichever version of “surviving past the winter solstice” they prefer!

cottage, originally uploaded by framboise.

No, it’s not snowing in Los Angeles. Not yet, anyway.

Just felt this photo taken during the winter of 2009 was somewhat appropriate for my mood today. I can see somewhere warm and welcoming, but I’m still on the road. It’s paved like a treadmill that does not allow me to get any closer despite walking as fast as my legs can go.

We all have days like these. At least it’s sunny outside in SoCal. 😉

Today I stood in my old office,
Shelves stacked with files and folders.
As I wiped down the desk
And emptied the drawers,
My mind drew a blank
On the contents of all these data holders.
Four years, they represent,
Of toil and thoughts in equal measure.
Half happy, half bad,
And ninety percent kept strictly to myself.
This career is one, I thought,
That lends itself to introspection.
However we bluff and bully,
Only in our minds is the truth known.
Four years of data gathered,
The same of literature read.
So full of potential,
Yet so full of trash.
On my shelves,
My future: filed.