Now and Then

The New Year started with a bang. Actually 20 minutes of firework booms and pops that we watched and heard from our window upstairs. And our neighbor with the annoying backyard light that shines directly into our house called this morning to say she is replacing it with a regular, non-flood, simple outdoor light. Hurray! Perhaps 2007 is gonna be a good one.

I'm hoping so. I don't feel any safer with Saddam departed. I've had two friends lose sons to the Iraq war in 2006 and I don't know what to say to them. If our own country can't clean up after Katrina within a year, then I don't think Bagdad has a prayer. TSI and Homeland Security have still not figured out how to see bombs and weapons through the giftwrap and ribbons. Election badmouthing hit a new slimy belly-dragging low. Save Darfur is a private campaign because why?

Still...I know the new Majority Whip is a good guy. I'm encouraged that electorate recognized that absolute power was corrupting absolutely and acted accordingly. Even W had to pay attention. More animals got adopted due to online sites like Petfinder.com. Farmers' Markets are proliferating. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is setting the standard for altruism and bringing hope to orphan causes. Neighbors are looking out for each other and five-year-olds are still innocent and sweet and learning to use their words to solve problems on the playground.

I've always loved new beginnings. Fresh clean notebooks at the start of the semester. Pressed clothes awaiting the first day of school. An unread novel. A new friend. A trip. The first flower of Spring and the first rose of Summer.

2007 is giving us a clean slate. It's up to us to decide what is written in the coming 365 days. What is important? What is right? What is kind? In my world, in my country, in my community, in my home. It's good that we have a New Year. We need one or we'd just plug along in our regular routines and never stop to look around critically to see what changes need making.

And if the past year was frustrating and scary at times, that's nothing new, especially during times of unresolved wars. Maybe sometimes we need that turbulence to fire us up. It certainly got my attention. I don't know what changes I'll make, but something feels different already. I feel hopeful. If kindergartners can learn to use words to solve problems, then maybe the adults can figure it out too. I can hope. I can help. Welcome, 2007.