THE SUN SETS ON 2016

For most of my life, the start of a new year has been an “eh” moment. It’s going to happen whether I like it or not, I don’t find the year that’s ending to have been particularly better or worse than most other years. Although I’m always hopeful for a good year ahead, I don’t generally feel more hopeful than I did the previous year.

But this New Year’s Eve is different. 2016 really was kind of a bummer. Of course there were wonderful high points (we won an important sailboat race we’ve been competing in for years and have gotten so close to winning before but never had), and a lot of just good things (my family is healthy, I life in a house I love and through this blog I was able to meet and work with truly wonderful people), but from a global perspective 2016 was sort of a drag.

I can think of no other picture from this year that is more suitable for New Year’s Eve. As the moon sets on 2016, the sun rises on 2017. It’s gonna be a good year, dammit.

2017 will be a year of change for us personally. There has been a series of events in our personal lives late in 2016 that mean new starts in 2017, and although that can be scary, I’m terribly excited about it. As for the blog, I have ideas for new features that I can’t wait to roll out. I can honestly say I’ve not been this excited for the start of a new year for a very long time, and whether that’s because parts of 2016 were a downright bummer or because I’m expecting so many exciting new things in 2017, I can’t say and I guess it doesn’t really matter.

I’ve never been a fan of most New Year’s Eve celebrations, but as we’ve done on occasion in the past, we’ll get together with some neighbors to celebrate. I can’t even guarantee that we’ll officially ring in the new year because I have reached a point where I don’t need to see midnight to toast the coming year, but we’ll be with friends (and we can walk home).

And when Sunday dawns, it’ll be 2017. I can’t wait. Odds are I will end up painting a wall January 1. Not only does it need to be done, it seems very appropriate for the start of a new year.

Thank you for swinging by this space this year. It’s a privilege to have so many people reading about my trials and tribulations and my occasional ramblings. I know sometimes there are typos (let’s be honest, most of these posts are written after 11 p.m.) and you’re very nice people not to point them out to me. I hope you’ll hang with me next year too.

Now … tell me about your New Year’s Eve plans and how you’re feeling about 2017!