Begin As You Mean to Go On

My Grandmother used to say "begin as you mean to go on", and I always think of her and this saying as each New Year begins. When I was a young child, I took it very literally -- that at the stroke of midnight I should actually be doing the things I wanted to continue doing. Decades later, I think of it more figuratively. I do happen to be knitting at midnight, and while I hope that there will be plenty of knitting in 2020, I also hope that peace, happiness, health, and contentment figure largely. 

And maybe 2020 will be the year I don't have to pretend.

Sometimes Monday ...

... is a day to stop in say hi!

This is just a quick post to say hello. I hope you've all enjoyed a nice Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or simply a pleasant end of December as 2019 winds down. I meant to be back to posting at the end of last week, but we've been taking advantage of John using up vacation days to make some spontaneous short trips. We've traveled to NY to visit Justin, and when you read this, I will be on my way to northern PA to spend some time with John's sister and her husband. We've had a delightful week and a half of spending time in unplanned, fun, and free-spirited ways! 

We won't be back until Wednesday, so I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year. I sincerely hope that 2020 is filled with peace, hope, health, joy, and contentment for you!

Begin As You Mean to Go On

For the past five years or so, I've been posting a photo of what I'm doing on New Year's Day (usually knitting and reading, around midnight if I've managed to stay up) on facebook along with the caption of "begin as you mean to go on". Since I haven't posted on facebook for months and think that I'm done with it, I'll do it here.

It's a small thing, and I don't really think that it's any kind of insurance that my 2019 will be filled with lots of reading, knitting, and shooting my bow, but it's more like paying attention to what I'm doing and how I spend my time. Because I'm also thinking about this quote from Annie Dillard:

So begin as you mean to go on, and spend your days in 2019 on all manner of good things.