1 JANUARY 2009

The first day of the New Year is just about done.

Last night was the time to say goodbye to The Old…

The saying is something like: “Ring out the old, ring in the New”, or words to that effect.

A part of our family gathered at a watering hole and shared a few drinks; a good dinner; and better fellowship.

We did a little ‘ringing.’

We danced at midnight and sang the old Scottish ‘hymn’, as we have come to think of it, and remembered the folks we used to do these things with.

And then, before we knew it, it was morning of the first day of the New Year.

We slept in a little.

It was the New Year, but we did the old things: we made the coffee, watching to see if the new suet cakes would suit the woodpeckers at the feeder just outside the window; toasted the first of the English muffins; cut up the mushrooms and tomatoes to go with the eggs; brought in the paper; and checked out the view from the front windows.

The ceremonial all-day fire was lit in the fireplace, and all the Christmas lights were activated.

It was cold outside and it was warm inside.

All seemed right with the world.

We knew, of course, that beyond our lawns and fences and streets another sort of world was roiling and broiling and that not everything was the way it should be.

But lots of things are the way they should be, and lots of people are trying to keep it that way and even make things better.

For our part, we will continue to do what we do…

Stay the course, as it were…regret losses but know that a new day will dawn and another day after that…

I have this belief, hope really, that beneath all the hoopla of the last election cycle, beneath all the lies and the foolishness and the naiveté of those who voted for b.o., that he will not be as bad as he might be, that smarter heads will prevail, that up there in the rare atmosphere of the inner circles of the American Government is a hard core of ‘them that know’ … that he and his minions will be given the word….that he will be better than we fear, that if he is not, that he will be ‘given the word’…

And we will endeavor to continue to do what we do, as little as it is, or as much as it is….in the spirit of a 19th Century age long past…but remnants of which we hope still exist.

Quoted below is a shot of common sense from that age, from Rudyard Kipling…admonitions I can only hope to approximate…one that I hope our leaders at all levels of our society can approximate…all levels…family, church, government, and on and on….

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Words to live by.
Words even to die by.

We at The Study wish all People of Good Will joy and success and justice in 2009.
This is an exciting time to be alive.