I certainly want to wish my friends and family a Happy New Year. There has been a lot of illness and uncertainty in our household this year, but we are celebrating our resilience and ability to move ahead. Let’s see what this next year brings!
We enjoy some New Year’s celebratory activity that is specific to where we live. We are within walking distance of the famed Rose Bowl parade route and close enough to the Rose Bowl to feel the energy of the influx of more than a million people who come to Pasadena specifically for these events. This Joint is Jumpin’.
But tomorrow morning when we wake we will be treated to our annual B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flyover, because, let’s face it! Nothing says Happy New Year like a strategic bomber!
If you’re interested in the particulars you can click HERE, and I can admit to the fact that I run outdoors with all my neighbors, each and every year for the last almost 20 years, to gawk at the very loud and Batman-like aircraft.
And yet, I find it a very uncomfortable symbol to employ on the first day of a fresh year. But that’s me.
If I’m looking for a symbol of positivity for the new year I look to nature. Recently I’ve been enjoying a pair of owls hooting and greeting me from a neighboring tree. I can’t see them, but I talk to them. I’ve decided that they know me as a kindred soul and they are specifically greeting me. Why not?
And then twice a day we are treated to a huge V-formation of geese that fly directly over our house. I refer to them as “Mary’s geese,” and I find delight.
I do look up a lot! But here on terra firma I find fascination and some amusement in our Sulcata Tortoise, Darwin. Watch a tortoise for some time and you’ll likely shed a little stress.
He is currently all tucked away in semi-burrowed protection. He has a fully available shelter that is wood and weather protected. He rejected it, instead burrowing in the soft dirt and he’s tucked away for the winter. He doesn’t fully hibernate. If we get some warmth he might stir a little, but for the most part we won’t see him active again until spring.
Here he is preparing his winter bed.
And here he is today.
I thought you might be entertained by a short video of him drinking water. Yes, I take videos of my tortoise drinking water. I very rarely catch him in the act, so this was a treat.
Of course, why should he worry. This guy is well loved. He is a part of our family.
Darwin and I wish you and your loved ones a new year filled with love, laughter, and memorable experiences. As I read somewhere, a new year is a chance to get it right. I liked that.
Happy New Year!
breathelighter 