Old Year, New Year; Cold Year, Blue Year

A knock on my door.  I sat, shrouded with doubt, and out from this clouded-head phase, I emerged.  Unlikely, yet, he had tracked my movement above earth and ocean to an old place where the cool damp air invades and seeps in and permeates the spaces inside us and the hollow in our bones. 

I looked for his eyes, which, under hair and hat and furrowed brow, told me of grief and the hurt of betrayal and a greeting so sweet after a year without meeting.

So much has changed.  So little has changed. The ink only darkens. The old and the new, we met again. I handed him my carefully kept secret. We exchanged papers, and so marked the tradition seconds before he was out my door into the inclement air of England.

I dream and resolve.

1. Do not compare self to others.  Journeys through life are not the same.

2. Travel more by myself in Europe.

3. "Everything is permissible for me," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me," but I will not be mastered by anything.”

4. Patience for things to come.

5. Improve communication. Observe, wait, listen.

6. Tithe in an organised manner.

7. Improve French language skills.

8. Finish this season well. Transition well into the next.