A New Year!!??

I had to write my first "07" date yesterday, and as always, it's a very peculiar feeling. After having written (or, more likely, typed) hundreds of "06's", it's not easy to move on. Alas, these new years just happen - whether I like it or not!

A New Year always contains a mix of feelings and emotions for me. It's a fresh start in many ways, a honeymoon period sparked with hope and optimism: this will be the year some difficult obstacle is finally overcome.

At work, everyone is back and the long winding down to the holidays is replaced with a new energy. It can feel good to get back to normal again.

But January can also be a trying time emotionally. I remember growing up in Chicago, with all the early winter cold and snow so exciting, a prelude to the magic of Christmas. But then Christmas was here, and gone, and we were left with...January. Many weeks of cold and ice to go, with shoveling snow a poor substitute for Holiday glitter.

The weather in northern California does not match the never-ending summer image of our Southern California brethren - we do experience a change of seasons. But it's a "kinder, gentler" winter here with no snow and temperatures in the 40s/50s. Still, January is the gloomiest time of year even here, with lots of damp, foggy, rainy days.

So I guess that makes me...what? Gloomily positive? Hopeful in a dreary way?

Who knows. But if past experience is any judge, there is one difficult obstacle that will soon be overcome triumphantly.

I will be a master of the "07" dates in no time.