A cluster of mid-month deadlines put me in a position to not fully appreciate the changing of the year. Instead of “after the first of the year” I found myself muttering “after the 15th.
Tasks like year-end filing and bookwork were done on an as-needed basis. In other words, if it wasn’t going to screw up my 2015 bookkeeping, it could wait.
Same goes for household chores, correspondence, new project proposals, and a host of other activities – not to mention any thought of long-range strategic planning.
Finally, this week, the milestone arrived. Deadlines met. Projects complete. I’ve turned the corner and what do you know? A new year awaits – stretching out before me like a swath of yet-to-be-driven sunset-lit desert highway. Oh, the possibilities.
I must admit I was aided in my attitude shift by the weather. Temps here hovered in the mid-50s on Friday. A stark contrast to the sub-zero range just a week ago. We even had sunshine.
I hit the streets for the first time since winter chill set it, checking my regular walking routes for spring-readiness.
It’s all still brown and grey, of course. With patches of snow that issue warnings of more to come. But there is also mud, and open fields, and blue sky, and rock crunching under foot instead of treacherous ice.
It was good to feel the wind in my face, breathe the fresh air, escape the boundaries of four walls.
There is much more winter to come. It’s only January, and we’re not in the clear until April has become familiar. But we might eke out a few more nice days before reality sets back in.
The break in work cycle won’t last either. These few days between assignments are dedicated to catching up at least some of what was put off as I tried to juggle the calendar – year-end books and filing, and taxes, at the very least.
Monday will be back to regular routine, with new deadlines to meet, contacts to make and projects to pitch.
It will be back to normal winter inside and out. All the more reason to appreciate the January thaw.