I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.

In recent years I’ve explored their very opposite by spending January naming what was already good and sound from the year before, a ritual I called the 31 Days of Self-Congratulations.

Corsica, September 2008

That exercise didn’t call to me this time, maybe because it’s a very time-consuming one. Could also be that the year felt like it wound to a close mid-November when our trip to Italy was over.  And the disparities between regular life after enjoying the irregularities of the traveling life were wide and sharp, and it took me a while to recognize that this was strong stuff that would stand between me and my optimistic New Year rituals of the past.  Not to mention the lure of new ones, like the “Best Of” lists that were bell-ringers (unintentional punning) for many bloggers in 2009.

Happily, fortuitously, mercifully, relievedl-y this morning I awoke to the bright penny shine of 2010 before me with my regular life batteries recharged enough that I was thirsty to write again.

Perhaps that’s what a low-key New Year’s Eve spent in the company of your Partner-in-Life, darling dog, roaring fire, a good dinner (lamb shoulder, parsnips and carrots, and mashed spuds with gravy made from the lamb drippings) the last of the excellent box wine from Chateau Peyriac de Mer (it’s the same excellent stuff they bottle, only in a box – trust me), and fireworks we could watch from the roof of our house can accomplish.

I also awoke thinking that a new New Year ritual regarding Determinations (not the R-word nor the I-word) would be better than none.  It’s funny how sometimes with our first blink we have the answers we’ve been gnashing our teeth over for eons.  On the other hand, last night it was very windy.  Window-door rattling windy.  Part of me fancies that overnight the wind swept through me, too, clearing a path to what was so apparent today.  And why not?

1. Utilizing self-discipline some more, at least as Judith Sills defines it:  “acting according to what you think instead of how you feel at the moment. That’s the only way any of us gets ourselves to do the hard stuff.”
2. Remember who I am. One of the sore spots of 2009 was acknowledging the degree that I’d muzzled parts of myself to meet certain expectations coming from outside myself.  One example:  for the sake of giving compassion a larger role, I didn’t speak with the conviction or honesty I felt.  There are times when a soft squeak can’t possibly do the job of a lion’s roar.
3. Thank friends who I’ve leaned on in 2009, and remind them that I’m here for them, too.
4. Enjoy the higher ground…sometimes.
5. Take more walks.
6. Own what I create with pragmatism and fairness – the good, the bad, the so-so…the beautiful, the ugly, the simply plain.
7. Remember that flexibility creates opportunities.
8. To that end let myself imagine big, because holding a bigger vision for my life is not a recipe for disappointment but a recipe for innovation.
9. Since icing is sometimes crucial to a cake, believe big in those imagineerings.
10. And since even sprinkles atop icing can be non-negotiable, believe I can stand on my own two feet.
11. For the next year, write with a sense of purpose.  Even if the purpose is silliness.
12. Face my demons, Temper Temper and Between-Meal Snacks.  Fairly self-explanatory.
13. Engage with the eternal question regarding Happiness…
14. …with inquisitiveness.  Rather than panic or the feeling that the clock is running out.

Best wishes everyone.  Here’s to luck and opportunity for us all.

It’s going down to the 40’s tonight in our part of Spain – verra cold for these parts – and yet the mosquitoes are still actively chomping.  At least me.  I just got bitten, like a minute ago, on the neck…and I’m wearing a turtleneck…and I’m in a bar. (For the free Wifi.  No, really.)  There are four other people in this bar with me.  Is it wrong to hope that the mozzie shares the love with them, too?

I’m afraid that on December 31st when I look back on what I’ve written here in 2009, all I will see is a of gripes about the internet troubles we’ve had in the past few months.  But that has been the case, much to my consternation.  To that end, I just want to send a quick word to the friends of this blog – old and new – that things will probably be quiet here for a little while longer while we we wait for our internet service to be activated.

The alternatives are limited, because we’ll be broke if we go to the internet cafes every day.  Or turn into barflies if we have to keep going to pubs to check emails and write blog posts. Or morph into Wifi trolls.

This last one is a very real possibility.  Tonight we drove around various neighborhoods looking for an unprotected network. (Didn’t find one, arrrrgh.)  How sad is that?  Don’t answer.  Just cross your fingers that Telefónica process our order mucho rápido.  Graçias.

Here’s hoping you stick with me and the better posts to come.  Pinky swear.

The thing about gallivanting across parts of Italy for about six weeks and then wending your way back to Spain – pausing in France for a couple of days in between to reconnect with the cafe culture and stock up on booze – is that the experience creates a little bubble of absentmindedness.

You forget the number of days since your jeans met with soap and water, the passwords to various and sundry social networking sites, and that not one but two significant holidays loom on the horizon.  That is until your mother sends a very sweet “Happy Thanksgiving-we miss you-where the hell are you-why haven’t you updated Flickr with more photos” email and…BAM…at least the pending holiday realization hits home.

Plus, sort of ironically  – a holiday related article written a while back at the request of lovely friend appears in virtual print on her freshly minted website..and you forget to make an announcement that toots the appropriate horns.  The site, aptly named Holiday Chill, is all about helping those who experience cold sweats, raging panic, and bitter disappointment at a certain time of year they dare not name for obvious reasons do just that – chill out so they can enjoy themselves.

You can read my contribution to the cause here.  But, if this is THE year you’re gonna send those blankety blank holiday pressures out the blankety blank door, just subscribe to the feed.

Here’s hoping this year’s Thanksgiving festivities fill your belly and warm your cockles.  {clink clink}

Well, my practical dreamer friends, the 2009 Italian adventure ends today.  This morning actually, 10 AM Western European Time.  {grrr whimper sniffle, grrr} We’re to leave the keys to the apartment on the table and close the door.

Then we hit the road that takes us back to Spain and the normal-ish life we have back there.  Can you sense that that’s not exactly rocking my world right now?

That is indeed real gold making these mosaics all glowy and sparkly. (Ravenna, Italy)

Apologies for not writing about this trip every step of the way as I said I would, for – um – not writing very much at all.  The funny thing about setting the intention to just have a good time, and then actually sticking with it and having one, is that I became very protective of my good time.  As in I wasn’t letting anything with a whiff of compromise meddle with it.  Not even stuff I normally like and enjoy doing, like writing.  I say this so that when you find yourself in this same situ you’ll know that a) you’re not alone in this kind of upside-down craziness, b) it happens, and c) no need to get a brain wedgie about it.

It will take us a few days to get back to Spain, and once there we’ll be busy busy setting up house and pestering Telefonica to be quick as bunnies about setting up our ADSL.  And buying a bed so we have a place to lay our heads, acquiring cutlery and glasses and all the usual accoutrements that turn a house into a habitation.  And decompressing from enjoying six of the dreamiest weeks a practical dreamer could ask for.

In the Piazzetta Alessandro Volta in Como, Italy stands this statue of native son, Alessandro Volta, a physicist who played with electricity, lived to talk about it, and made discoveries which led to other discoveries which led to other discoveries we directly benefit from today, such as electric toothbrushes.

We might not have noticed this statue if it weren’t for the…you know.

Maybe it's the Sangiovese doing the thinking, but he doesn't look unhappy with his accessory.