Black-Eyed Peas, Droid Shots, Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 2011, photo © 2011-2012 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
We are just about to dive into our rice and Southern black-eyed peas. A bowl of good luck to celebrate the New Year. It’s the anniversary of two couples that we know (Happy Anniversary!) and the birthday of our feline, Kiev. She was born January 1st, 1995 and turns 18 years old today. She will celebrate with her own tin of Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Classic. Kiev is named after the city in the Ukraine and is the sister cat to a friend of Liz’s whose male cat was named Moscow. May he rest in peace.
Mr. Stripey Pants is sitting in a thunderbolt of sun, a zen-like state that makes me feel peaceful just looking at him. He is recovering well from his surgery. Happy New Year to red Ravine readers and people all over the world who are celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, and new beginnings. Peace, abundance, and prosperity on the journey through 2012. I hear it’s the Year of the Dragon. Does that include dragonflies?
-posted on red Ravine, New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2012, Happy Birthday, My Familiar!
-related to posts: Dragonfly Wings — It Is Written In The Wind, Eye Of The Dragon Tattoo, Dragonfly Revisited: End Of Summer
Happy New Year to you! I was almost thinking I would skip writing out goals this year and go more free form, but I don’t think my life would feel as purposeful if I didn’t. Here is one in the form of a tanka I discovered in my yoga class today.
My aspiration
for the coming new year:
find a steadiness
in headstand, while expressing joy
as a lighthearted twist.
LikeLike
Beautiful, Teresa. Perfect tanka for the coming year. I felt the same about setting goals for 2012. I am still wrestling a little bit with what I want to commit to for my yearly practices. Only so much energy and time to go around. I want to choose wisely but am not feeling very wise! Happy New Year to you. Thank goodness for other writers and artists to help hold us up in times of uncertainty.
LikeLike
I wondered the same thing, QM (about the dragonflies!). I think it should. 🙂
LikeLike
Always at the top of my annual list is the determination to take off some excess pounds. (sigh) A battle I have seemed to fight every year without much success, but I will continue…
This year, there is more incentive than ever, as I have been gifted with a trip to Hawaii in March, with the promise (or threat,) that I am going to be diving into my beloved Pacific Ocean. I want to be able to do this, but I don’t want to look like a “beached whale” in a bathing suit! The dates were set to coincide with the peak Whale watching season, and to see these magnificent creatures has always been a dream of mine! Growing up in So. California, I love the ocean; the infinite shades of blue or gray reaching to an unending horizon, the sound of gentle slapping or, sometimes, frightful crashing of waves on the sand, the briny, salty fragrance of sea air give me peace. of course, pacifica is Spanish for peace. The gift is to be a celebration of my retirement, later this month, so I am going to have a year of good changes! Happy New Year to all the wonderful people who visit red ravine!!
LikeLike
oliverowl, it makes me so happy to see you here as I was thinking a lot about you today. I have had a big chunk of time to myself and it has felt wonderful. I’m excited that you will be retiring and will have the opportunity to feel the wonder and joy of time for yourself every day. It’s such a gift for a writer or artist — the gift of time.
And I’m thrilled for your trip to Hawaii! I have only been there once and it was many, many moons ago. Went to the island of Maui. What island will you be on? Last night Liz and I were watching Sunday Morning and Woody Harrelson lives on Maui. They were interviewing him at the home of Willie Nelson. Wild! Your descriptions of the Pacific are beautiful. I love the ocean, too, and can’t figure out how I ended up in landlocked Minnesota! How does that happen?
I wish you the best kick-off ever for your retirement year. You deserve it! Happy New Year, oliverowl!
LikeLike
Robin, me, too. For the sake of clarity, I’m going to take a little artistic license and go with it. 2012 — Year of Dragons & Dragonflies! I hope the stars line up with me on that!
LikeLike