Living Without Walls

Happy New Decade.  (I really mean it this time.)

The end of the era Christmas was one of the best in recent memory. Folks just kicked off their shoes on this one and no one had to be somewhere else. Been thinking about that, the old traditions and new ones just coming on line and how good we are at adapting to what seems to be constant transitions.

The family was on the move ... Tim to his own apartment in a quaint little suburb of Sac and Dave from beautiful Shasta to beautiful Sonoma. Me and the old man snuck away for a few days to Monterey. We met a flurry of interesting people and saw beautiful places with one sunshiny day and two rainy ones. We spent one evening with rain and wind so blustery that it knocked out power for all of Cannery Row. The angry surf and rain and high gusts were incredible.

Our consensus is that people everywhere are
Wonderful.
    Open.
        Funny.
            Friendly.
                Interesting.

Nice to know as we carry a little extra worry-weight around. Carpe Diem! We made our way back to the little hotel and snuggled up in front of the fire. Life is vibrant and savory, every single day.

I'm sure it's because this old age thing is on the brain after witnessing the necessary collisions with trying to respect the private essence of a person's life.  There is so much value placed on our lives just the way we made them, and we fight hard to keep life from tumbling down.

We step forward, then back, and forward again, trying to soothe the heartwrenchingly tough transition of coming to terms with what remains. Maybe all of it; maybe not. It is maddening to watch. It makes us anxious and optimistic to know struggle and realize it will be ours someday, for things we take for granted -- our thoughts, our bodies, our lives.

So instead of resolutions of a personal sort, it is all hope for a decade of new beginnings, gentle transitions, guidance and wisdom, and a heaping spoonful of compassion sprinkled on top.