Happy New Year, Good and Not Good

 

We tell ourselves it will be different in the new year. We will be different. 

I will be different.

Do you make resolutions? I do and I don't. I don't resolve to do things that are out of my hands (write a bestseller! become a supermodel!) I think about things I want to do better and plan my resolutions to fit.

For 2013:
I resolved to do more gardening and I did for a while, then I didn't (summer was hot here, y'all) then I did. I really enjoy it. So that was good.

I also resolved to finish the first draft of a new novel but the main character kept changing, so I've started two first drafts and tossed them both. That was not good. I did, however, finish and publish a novel, and sell it, and it's still selling, so maybe I can let myself off that hook a bit.

I decided to be more generous with myself. That had its ups and downs. I'm putting that on my 2014 list so it stays on my mind. That's good and not good.

I resolved to exercise more and I have done so. That goes on the 2014 list too, because I can always do better in that area. So far so good.

I don't know if I'll be much different in 2014. I'll be good and not good, as I always am. I know enough not to promise myself things I can't deliver (edit the New York Times!), and I know not to proclaim my resolutions publicly ("Hey Petrea, remember you said you were going to learn to play drums?").

But I might have a nice back yard by the end of the year.


May your 2014 bless you, and may you bring blessings to others. Happy New Year.

Happy Trails Catering

Maybe you think Happy Trails Catering is a caterer. Which they are, but you also need to know they're open for lunch from 11-2:30 on weekdays and, theirs is the most magical setting in which to dine since Alice sat down with the Mad Hatter and his cohorts in insanity.

You and your own cartel of kooks may start by entering the storefront of the old brick building at 207 S. Fair Oaks. Order your sandwich or salad there. Then slip down the rabbit hole walkway to the back and you're in Wonderland, enchanted by green grass, white tablecloths and an oak* so ancient and benevolent it deigns to shade the whole place.

When your food arrives, the magic is complete. Look, I'm just warning you--don't expect a normal, drab burger or BLT. The idea is to entice you to hire their catering services, so they're going to wow you with the food.

It's safe to eat it; my analogy is Wonderland, not Faerie. Once you and your mad tea party have finished, you'll be allowed to leave. But you'll be loathe to do so.


*My more knowledgeable commenters have set me straight. It's a camphor!