Happy New Year

Another trip around the sun, friends, and now we set out once more.  A fresh start.  A clean slate and all the attendant hope that brings.

I’d like to take on the mantle of the seasoned mariner preparing to set sail.  Scouring her boat, adjusting her sails, battening down the hatches and studying the horizon so she can determine her best course.  Scrutinizing the weather and making small adjustments to her vessel so she can maximize the wind and sail steadily along on her chosen trajectory.

It’s time to stockpile provisions and wipe clean the compass.  It’s time to unfold the map and smooth it out with calloused hands.  It’s time to crosscheck the course and consider new topography.

Come!  It’s a new year!  Let’s “throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor and catch the trade winds in our sails!”

———

P.S. Lest my husband get any grand ideas about sailing around the world, I’d like to be abundantly clear that this is a metaphor. I’ve been sailing exactly twice.