Blank Slate (Tabula Rasa)

I've been out of town the last few days, catching up with some college friends. Most of us studied in Ireland in spring 2005 (which, come February 2, will have been 6(!) years ago) and all of us knit or are otherwise crafty. The weekend was spent looking at Ireland pictures, knitting, conversing, and watching Jane Austen film adaptions.

If your holiday season has been anything like mine, it's been a busy balance of work and socializing that's been heavy on the socializing. It's been one big happy jumble around here and in the past two weeks, I feel like I've seen more friends and family members than I've seen in the last six months. It's been a lot of happy fun.

Now it's time to be still for a while. No more pounding down Hwy 61 or I-35 for a little while. Time to hole up in the cabin and get some work done, to water the plants, refill the bird feeders, and bring in some firewood. Time to go back to the comforting same ol', same ol'. 

While I was gone, it snowed eight inches.  When I (finally) woke up this morning I found this scene:

A blank slate of snow, waiting to be tromped across. It was -16F outside, the fire in the wood stove was quietly smoldering while the lake ice boomed and twanged, and the pine marten was making his rounds by the bird feeders.

2011 comes with no specific plans or expectations. Employment is pretty well squared away. No travel plans have been made. Things seem destined to chug along as they have been. Still, I'm aware that 2011 at this point is 363 brand new days. A fresh layer of snow, if you will, waiting to be tromped across.  

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions. To my way of thinking, if you recognize something in your life worth changing, you might as well go about changing it at the very moment you recognize the problem. Why wait around for the new year?

Still here are some hopes I hold for 2011: 

• Getting my freelance writing to the next level
• Doing something with the novel and starting work on the next major writing project
• Determining what the next major writing project is
• A bigger, more productive garden
• More mindful eating (no more forgotten leftovers in the fridge!)
• More happy jumble days, filled with friends and memory making

Here's to 2011 -- the blank slate that it is -- and to whatever it may bring! What are you hoping for this year?