2014

I've never been able to overcome a childlike excitement when a new year rolls around. It's an opportunity to review what I've accomplished in the year just past (not much) and what I hope to achieve in the brand new year.  It's always a new chance to succeed, even when experience dictates that this is not likely to happen.

As I get older, time seems much more precious, and I don't want it to pass without acknowledging the joys of life.  Unfortunately, with joy also comes sadness.  As I prepared my holiday cards this year, I was sad to eliminate some names of those who are no longer with us.  And, I'm afraid, this will happen more and more as I and others age.  I've yet to know anyone immortal and yet our finiteness is something that we don't even want to think about, let alone dwell upon.  So the best antidote is to try to be in the moment and enjoy every ounce that I can wring out of life.  I will dedicate the next year to emulating my puppy Annie, who seems to enjoy every day to the fullest.

I wish you all a healthy and joyous new year.  I haven't written on this blog as much as I used to.  That is due, in part, to having less new things to experience in Denver as we passed our third anniversary here.  After moving from state to state, I feel like it takes about two years to feel comfortable some place, so we have passed that mark.  Once I stopped posting on a regular basis, then I felt like I had to write something brilliant and insightful to make up for the lack of posts.  This is a high standard that I can't seem to measure up to, so I don't write at all.  Please forgive my laziness as I think of my friends in various places quite often and fondly.

I believe that 2014 will be a year of great change for us, and change is always exciting.  We have yet another move to look forward to and, after that, I hope that we can stay in one place for a while.

So, I would be remiss in failing to report the national news story that is happening all around me here in Denver.  New years day marked the first legal sales of recreational marijuana in Colorado.  As we walked Annie early morning on January 1st, there was already a line at a dispensary two blocks away from our apartment.  As we walked further, there were new rules of conduct posted on the Sixteenth Street Pedestrian Mall.  This will indeed be an interesting social experiment to watch, and I definitely have a front row seat.  So I will let you know how it goes.

Here are two photos from new years day:

The sign for the dispensary is on the side of the building with the green cross.  Initially, only dispensaries that previously sold medical marijuana will be licensed for recreational use.

Sixteenth Street Pedestrian Mall