HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I’ve been wanting to write sooner than this, but life got in the way. A severe winter storm hit just a couple of days before Christmas, though thankfully it didn’t affect us too much. We never lost power and only had minimal tree damage. It was dangerously cold with strong winds for a couple of days, with wind chills around -30 degrees F. So many other places got it worse than us.
Christmas dawned bright and frigid, and the storm had passed. There was no wind. It was silent and peaceful. I was able to venture out to the barn to put the bird feeders back out, but the barn door was frozen shut.
It was a beautiful day here at our house with my parents, aunt, and uncle. We ate. We talked by the fireplace. We laughed. We watched football. We had a family Zoom to talk to far away loved ones.
Once Christmas was over, I had to prepare for a routine medical procedure (outpatient), which was this past Thursday. I’m glad to get a clean bill of health, but it took a few days for me to bounce back. In fact, this is the first day that I have actually felt like myself since last Tuesday.
I’m glad to leave 2022 behind. Overall, it wasn’t a bad year. I bought my first new car totally independent of my husband. I left the corporate world and launched two businesses. We celebrated our first anniversary of living in this house and learned a lot along the way.
The year had its lows, too, but that’s life. I persevered, and now I get to see a new year and look forward to all the lessons 2023 will teach me.
My main personal goals for this year:
- Hike more. (I’ve been a member of Hikerbabes for almost a year now and have yet to actually join the local chapter for a hike.)
- Read poetry every day.
- Start at least one lasagna garden.
- Get my weight under control. (Damn hormones… middle-age spread is real, y’all.)
- Do more crafting, especially repurposing materials I already have and using natural materials from our property.
- Record the bird species we have in our yard. One of my Christmas presents was The Sibley Birder’s Life List & Field Diary, which I will use to track the birds that visit our yard.
As always, I want to continue to find joy in the simple things in life, practice gratitude, and maintain my health.
I hope your 2023 is full of good things. Please leave a comment and share your hopes for this year.
Karyn Johnson 