Belated Happy New Year

I, along with I am sure, most other people cannot believe that it is 2012. Where did 2011 go? However, perhaps unlike a lot of other people, I am really excited about this year. It seems to me to be full of 'possibles'; open to excitement and development in a way that I have not come across before. The 'recession' seems to me to be an opportunity to do things differently; to be awake and aware to opportunity. There is no room for 'second best' or 'making do'. At least perhaps not in the way that most people would see this. What is important to me in this time of change and for many people, shrinking circumstances? Friends, joy, appreciation of what is really really important. I am so thankful that I have a roof over my head, a garden that I can look at and see colour, growth, and new life. I have wonderful friends and family who provide a network of support; I have my life in front of me, and behind me. I wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, hopefully knowing that I have done the best I can, and if not, then I can take a breath, forgive myself for that and know that I have another opportunity in the morning to put it right, fix it, or apologise for it. How fortunate is that?

And today, fossicking around in the garden and planting some bulbs - too late I know - I was blinded by the colours of my favourite plant for winter, Cornus Midwinter Fire, whose stems in the gloaming of a subdued sunset were almost too painful to look at. A tall poppy of a plant, unashamedly colourful and upright. Perhaps a good metopher for life!