New Snow

Another New Year’s Eve passed; the finish of another of many calendar years on my life’s journey. There isn’t the hustle and bustle of many previous years. There is time to reflect. Sometimes that doesn’t always prove to be preferable to life’s nonstop activities but it is something to be explored and registered. My mind races with past events and “realities.”







As I sit at our kitchen table, a menagerie of thoughts flood my mind—not all well organized. I think of the passing of friends in 2009. Those thoughts are followed by thoughts of huge innocent blue eyes of my first granddaughter who blessed us with her 2009 debut. I think about the uncertainties of ever increasing healthcare costs. But then I think about how nothing has gone untreated, even my newest aches and pains. I seldom shop for groceries but was shocked yesterday that a foray for a short list of items cost $38.17 (I was informed “With a savings of $2.43, thank you”). But then I think that there is an abundant supply of food stored within a few feet of where I sit. My needs are covered for at least a month and probably more. My savings and security took a “hit” in 2009 and there is no cost of living increase. I think of my friends in Kolkata who invest all they have into helping others survive. I think of the suffering and loneliness I have increasingly witnessed as 2009 progressed. The perceived pressures of providing have taken a real toll especially in families and marriages. Few have escaped unscathed from this toiling. I look out the window at the birds clustered around the bird feeder. They seem to do quite well without “providing for themselves.” My day dreaming goes on and on as I think about the dichotomies of my life especially this past year. Through it all, I’ve been blessed with life itself and in fact “life more abundantly” although not always in ways I track and measure.






There is a new covering of ultra white snow blanketing our neighborhood. It is magnificent and glistens, reflecting the morning’s light. It covers any and all of the remnants deposited this past year (and before). The fluffy whiteness is utterly inviting to view in its entire pristine splendor. What a delight to look at this unspoiled beauty. I am deep into daydreaming and enjoying nostalgic bliss.


Suddenly, my wife points out a regal-looking red fox blazing a trail through the snow. As he trots through the neighborhood’s yards, I realize that he alone has stirred to venture into this bright new world while I sit here looking at it. However, his tracks in the new snow, no matter how beautiful, are now just a distant reminder of where he’s been. He’s off on new conquests without looking back. (Perhaps to the dismay of the neighborhood mice, rabbits, and other critters.)






I too, figuratively, am granted a new beginning in 2010. I am given an opportunity to leave some shortcomings, wounds, and even scars from the past be blanketed under a new all encompassing covering (which has been there all along). I want to follow that beautiful red fox’s example and blaze a trail into the beautiful fresh “newness” before me. Even though my tracks may be interesting and in some senses beautiful, it’s the where I am going and what I make of this “newness” that counts. I’m off to experience and fulfill all that the privileges and, yes, even the challenges that 2010 holds. I am grateful for the opportunity.