The morning sun is deceptive. When I opened the door for Henry, I was surprised by the wind and the chill it brought. Branches and dead leaves are swaying. I just didn’t notice.

The only event left on my dance card for the week is a dentist appointment today. It is just for a cleaning, but I still am a bit reluctant. I think it is the sound of the drill coupled with childhood memories which bring the reluctance, maybe even fear.

When I was a kid, the new year never really meant much. Nothing changed except the date. I still walked to school, spent my days there, walked home, played, did homework, watched TV, ate dinner, watched more TV then went to bed. The strange thing about this daily routine was I actually never noticed it was a routine, and I was never bored. That boredom didn’t arrive until I was a bit older, a teenager with expectations. That was when I’d whine about having nothing to do. I’d wander the house and throw myself on the couch with such huge sighs you could almost see them in the air. Once I drove my mother crazy because I wanted to go horseback riding for the second time in my life. I didn’t go, a money issue, my mother’s money issue.

I remember one New Year’s Day in Ghana. I visited my Ghanaian family in Bawku. My sister took me to church with her. It was the most glorious, joyful service with singing and dancing. Drums played. The women wore their best three piece dresses made with colorful Ghanaian cloth. The men wore fugus, smocks, dansikas in FraFra, traditional men’s attire only in the north back then. I wore my Ghanaian cloth dress. I danced, probably badly, and clapped during the music. I loved that service, the most wonderful and amazing welcome for any new year.

This morning I took down the old year’s calendar and put up the new year’s, a sloth calendar, a present from Bill and Peg. I threw away the old one day at a time calendar, always a Christmas present from my sister, and opened the new one. I already had appointments to add to it. This is the earliest I’ve caught up with the new year. I hope it bodes well.