a little fluff in the navel..................

The last day of the year............the last Sunday of the year. It leaves me bewildered as to how all of a sudden another one has tumbled by. 2007? Does that not sound futuristic? Ah.........it's just a number.

For many, Christmas is nerve jangling. I find New Year's Eve more rattling, and completely overblown. I could never get my head around the idea of donning my party dress and heading out to a ballroom to listen to some local band, and to merrily toast in a new beginning. It still seems so phoney to me............all kissy kissy with strangers. ick.

My idea of ringing in the new year has to include a time to navel gaze..............a backcrawl swim through the past 12 months, with a bit of floaty ruminating time on the blow up mattress sipping umbrella drinks..........it helps clean out the fluff in the navel.

Another way of looking at it? A closet cleaning that produces three piles........toss, keep and sell at the spring garage sale. Either way......................a recognition of life lived in 2006.

Since its not the time of year in this part of the world to take a floaty ride down the river in one's bathing suit, instead, I bundled up in layers of fleece, pulled on my big parka and new red boots, called for the dog and headed up to the fields near my home to go for a bracing walk. Blustery, wind sweeping, head clearing..........................BEAUTIFUL SUNNY Sunday walk up the hill to enjoy the sweeping vista of the river valley.

(I took my new camera and will try to post some photos later when I learn how to do it......some are stunning!!!)

I often find that when I'm out for a brisk walk, music fills my head like a soundtrack to my thoughts. When I left initially, my thoughts were embraced by the song on Pip's blog........ What if God was one of us? ..........a hauntingly beautiful song which admittedly has been with me the first moment I heard it........Yeah, yeah, God is good............ As I continued up the hill, the music changed and I found the wind bringing a choral orchestra of hallelujah joyous music harmoniously sung from the heart of a cathedral. I did, I really did hear it........................

And I thought.........................why this music? What does it tell me.................how does it fit with my ruminations and navel gazing? It does I realized, because I have shed off the layers of fatigue and frustrations of 2006 and have been left with the sweet clotted cream to savour. Blessings. My week of being home surrounded by my family and my friends, enjoying the time of year together have shored me up and have allowed me to shed the fluff in the navel.

Clarity, energy, hope, renewal, gratitude, humility, grace.

It has left me with with clear pictures of thanksgiving, and one word which could sum it up thematically...................connections. I can't capture all of the moments special to me this year, so I will try to deliver a few snapshots triggered spontaneously as I write.

A warm sunny blustery day on Prince Edward Island when the waves were strong and high enough to body surf with glee. 3 families and our dog............a weekend reunion which only happens one time a year............ this one was particularly memorable.

Canada Day night in Spencer's Island Nova Scotia sitting up on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Fundy with good friends around a bonfire.........clear starry summer sky, tidal breezes................down below a small group of camper trailers enjoying their own bonfires........... when all of a sudden, we are treated to a fireworks display, which is more impressive than any formally orchestrated event. Loved it!!

Last May, I walked into a foyer of a non-descript hotel nervous about attending a camp reunion. Wondering if my mega high expectations will ever be met, wondering how I will find my dearest friend from camp. Not a second slips by before I hear my name yelled out..................."Muskie! I need your help!! They have screwed up my reservation!" The voice was SOOOOOOOO familiar and the request for help, well...................familiar too.....................so much so that I didn't realize how quickly I jumped back into my role all the while hugging and crying with my friend whom I hadn't set eyes on in over 20 years. We hadn't even spoken. It was the beginning of a serendipitously delicious weekend of joy in all it's elements.

Connections.........................with my colleagues and clients, with family near and far, with friends new and old, with my community, with my husband and children............connections.

This year, my connections reached far and wide around the globe all because of a little thing called the internet (many thanks to Al Gore........such a genius).

From Melbourne (hi Monk who's already living in 2007) to London (hugs to you Pip, you gem) to California (Hey Mike, Barbara and Layla) to Georgia (where are you Ellen? Hi there Arlen) to Kingston (Daisy! Can you put a tune to my song from yesterday?) to Oregon (Deborah, love your poetry) to Paris (Tara.........your photos amaze me) to Montreal (K, my political/baseball friend) and to an island I want to visit, Guernsey (Katie, you dancing to Sinatra? Paul, I miss you.........where are you?) and of course downriver, with a quick stop in Burton and .................all the way to the Bay of Fundy (Hey CS.) ................. and all stops in between.....................AMAZING!!!!! To think I didn't know any of you this time last year. Your thoughts and comments and emails have been the most wonderful boost, the most fabulous gifts a writer could ever ask for.

Oh.................and my local blog buds..........Sunny, Mr. Mad Mac with a romantic heart (who knew?), and a Princess who is out there caring like mad. Sometimes you're just across the street, sometimes it feels like the street is a mile wide, but I always feel connected to you through the blogosphere.......................how crazy is that?? :)

What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us..................trying to make his way home................... like a holy rolling stone.........................yeah, yeah


Happy New Year...................... time to pour some pink bubbly..........I love champagne. Time to kick in the new year with some guitar riffs and dancing tunes........................and a whole lot of love. Think I'll don my sexy little black dress and whoop it up..............yeah.

Sing it loudly!