Happy New Year

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At church this morning, some of the kids from the children's choir, which I conducted for one of the Christmas services, brought me these lovely notes and handmade cards.  As if saying good-bye to my adult friends wasn't hard enough, being appreciated by my more youthful friends was really touching.  When you are "just doing your job", it is easy to forget that your students might have a different perspective on your role.  When they stare up at you during rehearsal, looking mostly unimpressed, it is easy to conclude that they could care less what old person is up there making them sing.  These kind notes and thoughtfully drawn pictures tell a different story.  What a blessing.

It was a weird New Year's Eve.  Joerg is on his way to Montana so we weren't together.  A typical New Year's Eve finds us sleeping soundly by midnight so I thought I would challenge myself to stay awake until 2024 arrived.  2024, the year I move to Montana.  Who knows what other interesting things will decorate this new year. 

In the meantime, rather than sitting home alone (yes, Katherine is here but is - as usual - hunkered down in her room reading a book), I joined a virtual knitting group for a New Year's Eve casting-on party.  I already had a project in the needles, but then so did many of the others.  At one point there were about twenty women on the call from all over the world.  One knitter was in Australia where it was lunch time on January 1st already.  The rest were from Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oregon, California, Texas, Washington, Florida, and...I think...Massachusetts.  Extremely experienced knitters and total beginners filled my screen as I worked on my project.  We knitted together for about two hours, chatting about projects, favorite pattern designers and yarns, and what our knitting goals for 2024 might be.  It was an unconventional way to spend a New Year's evening but rather fun nonetheless.

Now that the day is over and I am about to meet the challenge of staying awake until Midnight, I'm going to bed.

Happy New Year!

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