Part of the Plan

We lost Dan Fogelberg to prostate cancer on 16 December.

Photo by: Henry Diltz

I have these moments all steady and strong

I’m feeling so holy and humble

The next thing I know I’m all worried and weak

And I feel myself starting to crumble

—Dan Fogelberg

I know that doesn’t seem like an uplifting way to start a post about a party, but New Year’s is all about mortality and rebirth—isn’t it?

So—we went to a New Year’s Eve party at the church president's house. CP is a very nice woman from Maine, and this bash is one of her annual events. We showed up late, and I was ready to leave about an hour later. I’m really not one for this kind of thing. Growing up, I was always in the band. So I am much more comfortable with some degree of control when in a crowded environment. Noise just adds to the out-of-control feeling.

But Suna was having a good time catching up with people she had not seen in a while. I had fun eating too much and drinking the non-alcoholic punch. We kept deciding to stay just a little longer, and it eventually ended up being midnight.

Everybody liked my New Year’s resolution. It sets a really low expectation, and nobody can really stay mad at me if I don’t keep it.

• Not to die this year

So you see: it’s all part of the plan.

Circle Game

And the seasons go ’round and ’round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We’re captive on a carousel of time

…

And go ’round and ’round and ’round in a circle game

—Joni Mitchell

This is the time of year to reflect on what has happened. What, if anything, have I learned from my experiences this year?

• Life can be very painful. Even the good times can hurt.
• Things never go like you want them to. Even things you do to avoid hurting others (or, at least, minimize the damage), can end up hurting them more.
• It’s better to get things out in the open. If something disturbs the harmony of the house, delaying the disturbance does not make it go away. Cleanse the wound quickly before it festers.

Of course, I already knew all of these things. So that brings up my final ovservation:

• Even though you know something, your mind can still trick you into repeating the mistake through optimism. I knew that, too.

So, what would I change about the last year? Not really anything. I have always believed that even the icky parts of life shape who we are. We need pain to appreciate its absence. We need joy to survive the pain. The Wheel of Fortune is the most beautiful card in the deck. I still try to cherish all of my experiences—even those that hurt.

Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions are promise made to yourself, usually without the wherewithal or sometimes even the intention of keeping them. Here are mine for the upcoming year:

• To do my best to be happy and help others be happy
• To achieve a balance between work and life
• To work on making a charitable reaction to any stimulus my first one

These were written by columnist Lynn Ashby. I like them:

• In the coming year I shall never read any newspaper story that contains the names Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, or Karl Rove unless followed by “was indicted.”
• Not to watch a TV channel that only tells me what I want to hear, that whatever the problem, it is someone else’s fault. I must think outside the Fox. (I wish everyone would try this one.)

Time Passages

Al Stewart wrote many of my favorite songs.

Photo Soucre: AlStewart.com

Hear the echoes and feel yourself starting to turn

Don’t know why you should feel that there’s something to learn

It’s just a game that you play

—Al Stewart

I am back-posting Friday’s Feast. It’s really 2 January as I write this, but I’m dating it for the right date. I would like to say that I was late because I was thinking really deep thoughts or carefully considering my answers, but that would not be honest.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: Name two things you would like to accomplish in 2008.

• Become solvent again
• Have a nice wedding

Soup: With which cartoon character do you share personality traits?

There used to be a character named Ernest. Not only do we share a name, we also share many personality traits. My favorite quote: “Imagine all these young bucks going around trying to re-invent the wheel. Don’t they realize I re-invented it years ago?”

Salad: What time of day (or night) were you born?

11:45 AM. Just in time for lunch. Explains my life-long struggle with weight.

Main Course: Tell us something special about your hometown.

It has one of the highest cancer mortality rates in the country. Lots of chemicals.

This is a picture of my home town taken last Thanksgiving.

Dessert: If you could receive a letter from anyone in the world, who would you want to get one from?

I thought about this one for a while before deciding on Al Stewart, my favorite song writer. He was too literate to have more than a couple of commercial hits, and even those were out of sync with what was going on in the music of the day. You may remember “Year of the Cat,” “On the Border,” or “Time Passages.”