On the First Day of the Year

With a gentle hand and a small sweet measure of nostalgia, I am going through the accumulated trappings and detritus of last year, something I always do on the first day of a new year - looking once more at papers and memorabilia gathered along the way: journals, notebooks, almanacs, daytimers, scraps of paper, drawings and sketches, greeting cards and old envelopes.  Down come last year's calendars, good friends all, and up go shiny new versions for 2013.

Born packrat, occasional collage artist and ardent collector of "stuph" that I am, it's tempting to hang on to absolutely everything, so some of 2012's bits and pieces will be tucked away, but many will have to embrace the void - there is simply no room in the little blue house for all the quotidian elements of a life this long, a road this winding, curious and thoughtful. There are sadnesses sprinkled here and there among my heaped tokens of course, but there is richness and color too, an abundance of friendship, companionship and wildness to be treasured - here an oak leaf, there an acorn, a pine cone, a few pebbles, a scrap of birch bark or a gnarly piece of wood from my favorite grove, a bad drawing of a beech leaf hastily rendered on the back of a receipt from the local general store, a loving card from a friend that arrived just when it was most needed.

I touch these things gently and assign them places. I say goodbye and thank them for being with me on this journey. Then I lift out the calendars, blank artist books and journals that will accompany me on my potterings in 2013. Two of the new companions were Yule gifts, and a handful were purchased from the sale bin of a local artist's supply store called DeSerres.  A few of the lovelier ones actually came from an Asian themed bargain shop in the village, and all are a rare treat for winter weary eyes.

Page upon page of lovely thick creamy paper, binding and fragrance await, so many memories in the making, Moleskines and sketchbooks, rapido pens with inks of red and emerald, peacock and purple - I am still searching for the perfect journaling pen, the perfect drawing pencil.  As always, there is the lingering suspicion that I have no talent with pencil, pen or camera and nothing meaningful to say and, but I try to ignore it.

Resolutions this year??? There is nary a one except to continue on as I have begun. May 2013 bring brightness and abundance to you and yours.