Another Year Opens

I took my first step  onto the road called 56 today and it is a fine road! There are many horrible things happening in our country and in the world right now, but today, in my little slice of Austin, the day was perfect. I missed my daughter who is in Atlanta visiting friends, but I was snuggled awake by my spouse who then plied me with fresh, hot coffee, pastries and flowers. It was sunny and hot all day--and there's a full moon tonight.

I even zipped through my bee maintenance in record time. The only blot on my day was a spot, well it was more like a lot of spots with six little legs waving madly in the air as I poked them to see if they were smutz or varroa mites (smutz doesn't wave its legs around). But even the mites turned into an opportunity to learn more about bees and to get more in tune with my hives. There'll be a Misbeehiving post tomorrow that will go into varroa mites in depth for those who are not like my husband (whose eyes tend to glaze over when I start in talking about mites and mite treatments).

To celebrate the day, I was pampered. I was scrubbed, exfoliated, pummeled and oiled from head to toe. I drank champagne (and lots of water) throughout and just reveled in the bliss of a guilt-free day being glad to be alive. In the evening, Dave took me to the Alamo Drafthouse to see the new Mummy movie. I liked it, I didn't love it. I might have loved it had they chosen someone other than Tom Cruise for the lead and had significantly fewer screen writers. Sadly... But I'm looking forward to Wonder Woman on Sunday.

Back to the concept of birthdays. In the US we start our new year on January 1. The change from the old to the new gives us a chance to reflect on our lives and adjust our course if we think we're heading into undesirable waters. Birthdays are somewhat the same, especially for me as mine falls almost in the middle of the regular year. I almost get to start over on my birthday with a new evaluation of life and what tweaks need to be made to improve it. Today I am happy to say I don't feel the need for any tweaks. Oh some of the things I planned to do at the beginning of the year have fallen by the wayside (spinning 15 minutes a day, making bread and pasta on a regular basis, keeping up with ikebana). But some things are going strong. I have posted every day since the end of December. This might not be such a an accomplishment to everyone else, but for me, at the end of the year I will have a journal of every day of my life for one year. I have also kept up with the 365 Project and taken and posted a picture a day every day this year. From this project I'll have a visual journal of the year. Finally, I have kept up with playing piano. I take lessons (through Facetime) every week, and I practice regularly and intensively. In short, life is good. I can ask for nothing more.

Now it's time for the wheel to turn. I will end my day as I began it: by snuggling my spouse.