Reflecting on the year as it comes to a close is a habit with me. Where did the months go….the weeks…the days? How did I use the time….the things I said I would do?

Once I heard a comment on eternity (probably from John) and it goes like this. Imagine an ant crawling to the moon and back taking a piece of our planet with him and then returning to do it all over until the earth is all on the moon. Then eternity is just beginning.

If we think we’re short on time here……we are. Considering most live to the ripe old age of three score and ten…….it isn’t very long in the scheme of things. This usually affects us one of two ways……we either work ourselves to death or give up and do nothing. The smart thing to do is finding balance.

Yesterday on a routine trip to the Post Office I was waited on by a lady I hadn’t seen for a while. I asked how she had been and she said, (“doing OK….how about you?”) I said I was doing well and complimented her on her new haircut. She laughed and said, (“ It’s a wig….I lost all my hair. I’m taking chemo.”) She went on to say she is flown to Chicago for her chemo from the famous Cancer Clinic. She has had two months and has two more months to go and then will have radiation. I gave her all the encouragement I could…..breast cancer is an ugly foe.

I walked out into the lobby and saw a woman I haven’t seen since her husband died quite a while back. They owned the funeral home in town and conducted the funeral for Warren……Sherman and Warren had been pals. We spoke of the things we do the way our life is now and wished one another a happy new year.

My next stop was the grocery store where I saw a woman at the dairy section and we greeted one another…….hadn’t seen one another for several years. The man she intended to marry turned out bad and they never made it to the alter. She lives alone and has given up on love. I left feeling guilty because my life has been full of love……but it isn’t that way for everyone.

I left the store and decided to drive across the street to see if the garage could do an oil and lube for me……the lady who works there went to school for a time with Rocky’s children. She asked about them and was glad to see me. Vicki has recovered from breast cancer after a long fight with it.

I called a friend who lost her husband before Thanksgiving. I invited her to go with me Monday when I go to Springfield for my permanent crown, following the root canal. She had fallen on the ice recently and hurt her back. She is going for X-rays today. If she feels better she will go with me for a little shopping and lunch. She will get back to me when she knows what’s going on.

This is usually the way my days go. Small town living is perfect for me now. Once upon a time I loved the city but it doesn’t compare with my little acre in the Ozarks. I could never walk to a trash burner in a city yard with three kitties and Napoleon filing along behind me. I have a deck chair back there where I sit and watch the fire until it is nothing but embers. With all the leaves on the ground it would be too dangerous to leave it. The kitties curl up by my feet or my lap and watch the fire with me. I’m sure they don’t know why we’re there but it’s a good chance to be close to me and enjoy the time.

So as the trash burner serves to get rid of things no longer needed, we bid 2008 farewell. Hopefully the things that were of no importance will burn away and we will have a new year tomorrow to start fresh.

Starting over with knowledge gained from “what was“……is a good marker for a new beginning.

Essentially Esther