21 jan 10 where does it go?

The New Year is three weeks old and I'm finally sitting down to write about the end of the old year. We were treated to three auspicious celestial signs that last day of 2009. In the morning, the setting moon, almost full, had a partial eclipse. We watched it set into the fog over the inlet. In the early afternoon, as we drove just north of Houston on the way to Talkeetna, we saw a fata morgana on the ridge of the distant mountains to the west*. Then that night, the moon rose again and was full for the second time that month. That blue moon shone over us as we brought in the New Year on a very cold night.

New Year's Day was cold cold cold in Talkeetna. We snowshoed with friends to help set a trail to the east. We ate black-eyed peas for good luck at a potluck. That was the first that I'd heard of that southern tradition.

I can't tell yet if the auspicious celestial signs and the black-eyed peas have a made a difference in this year. I'm feeling better than I did at the end of last year. But maybe that's a whopping dose of vitamin D every morning, cutting back on coffee, and exercising more. Paul and I start each day with a bit of Buddhist wisdom from a book he bought me for Christmas. We've been cross-country skiing and mountain biking on the packed trails and hiking with Bhikkhu a few times. My evenings feel unproductive yet short and I'm almost a month behind on the blog. I guess black-eyed peas don't make you any more effective or efficient with time.

For resolutions for 2010 - I'm sticking to the tried and true (or still trying to be true to) from the last couple of years. My start may be slow and paced, but I'm hoping it will pick up with some practice and attention.


* I saw this phenomena again a few days later while walking around our neighborhood. Keyholes opened in the ridge of the Tordrillo Mountains, then became arches, and final mesas atop the mountains.