Hush. Listen. Ask. Focus. Obey.

A Facebook friend suggested we choose five words to live by in 2011.

This was before New Year's Day, of course, and I had plenty of time to think about it. Just not a lot of time to write about it. Maybe Promptly should, in a spirit of contrition and correction, be one of my words for this year, but it's not one of the words given me. The words that came to me over a period of several days were:

Hush. Turn the radio off. Turn the TV off. Cut the chatter -- especially the interior monologue that I carry on with . . . whom? Hush.

Listen. Turn my inner ear toward the heavens and wait expectantly to hear . . . what? Listen.

Ask. Don't assume. Don't jump to conclusions. Don't even hop to conclusions because this has to be done . . . when? Ask.

Focus. One thing at a time. Not twenty. Not twelve. Not two. One that must be done . . . how? Focus.

Obey. Otherwise, what is the point of the other four? Obey.

Get On With It!

OK -- here's the deal.

I had planned to write entries about our walk in the woods, the Great Christmas Camp Out, and First Night. All on January 2. Didn't get any of it done. Now these unwritten entries lie lodged in my brain, accusing me of overlooking them, and holding other, more necessary word tasks hostage.

So I'm giving in and meeting their demands.

Pics from hike in the wood are posted below:

Left: This condo tent features two roomy sleeping areas, walk-in closets with shelves, and skylight ceilings for real sleeping under the stars.

The Great Christmas Camp Out at Lakewood Retreat was a blast! Trying to sleep while shivering fully clothed in a sleeping bag in a tent at 33 degrees gives one new appreciation for modern comforts . . . and is good for the soul, as well. LR's game room is as much fun as it ever was, and we introduced grandkids to roller ball. They have a new disc golf course, a human foosball area (!), and playing teenaged ninja air hockey brings new dimension to the game. The lake is mostly dry, but we took a night walk--thank you, Jeremy--onto the lake bed to see the stars. Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire beats any gourmet meal in any fancy, schmancy restaurant.

Not many pics 'cause my camera battery died, I had forgotten to recharge the other one, and neglected to bring my charger. I'm slipping . . .

New Year's Eve we broke tradition. Instead of falling asleep on the couch while watching some dumb old movie, we went to St. Petersburg's First Night celebration. Well done! We listened to a ragtime piano historian/performer, jazz combo, string quartet, opera selections, surfin' USA music, and more. Plus fireworks at midnight -- all for a very reasonable fee and no alcohol.

Now can I get back to work?

Happy New Year!

This is for all of us who grew up going back to school the day after Labor Day. The First Day of School meant a new school year, a new teacher, new classmates, new books, new room.

Today's kids will mark mid-August as a time of new academic beginnings.

There are other New Year's Days, as well. Later this month, Jews around the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which has come to be known as the Jewish New Year. Christians begin their religious calendar with the first Sunday in Advent, which is either the last Sunday in November or the first Sunday in December.

Then there's the January 1 New Year we inherited from the Romans. Orthodox Christians, who still follow the older, Gregorian calendar, celebrate Orthodox New Year in mid-January. Later in January (sometimes early February), the Chinese New Year and Tet Nguyen Dan, the Feast of the First Morning, or the Vietnamese New Year, are celebrated in Asia.

There's another Jewish New Year in the spring time. Leviticus 23:5 puts Rosh Hashanah in the seventh month of the year. Leviticus 23:34 says Passover is during the first month of the year. One would assume the new year began the first day of the first month; but, as with our academic calendar versus our civil calendar, that's a good example of assumptions being dangerous things.

And, just to keep things interesting, the Islamic New Year will be on December 18 this year (2009), but was on August 2 in 1989 and was on April 17 in 1999. The year 2008 saw two Islamic New Year's Days -- one on January 10 and one on December 29 -- because the Islamic year is 11-12 days shorter than the Julian calendar.

Because of the number of different religions and ethnic groups, India had 30 different calendars until 1957.

Maybe the point is that every day is a new beginning--the first day of the rest of your life, as someone wisely said.