Happy January Revisited

I feel a need to follow up on my previous post.  While 2012 was in so many ways a year for the record books, I, as a believing Jew, look at Earth’s journey around the sun in another way as well.  For our people, there is more than one beginning to the year.  Each is fraught with meaning and provides inspiration and guidance in our daily lives.

First and foremost is one (almost) everybody’s heard about: Rosh Hashanah.   It heralds the awesome, inspiring holy days on which the slate is wiped clean and we look forward to a year of blessing, health, peace, and whatever else we need and desire.  After almost a full month of connecting with the Creator and rejoicing in the goodness bestowed upon us, we return to our regular routine.

For residents of the Northern Hemisphere, that includes watching summer give way to autumn and autumn fade into winter.  When the cold season is at its height, and it seems that spring is far, far away, along comes the next new year.  Tu Bishvat, the New Year for Trees, is the day when trees in the Land of Israel begin another fruit-bearing cycle.  As we commemorate the holiday by eating various types of fruits, there is a feeling of dual celebration: of the Creator’s care for all of His creation, and of the knowledge that spring will arrive in our locales.

At the onset of spring comes Nissan.  It’s is the first month on the Jewish calendar, and all succeeding ones are reckoned from it.  Passover occurs at this time.  At this season of beginnings and positive changes (of our people as a nation dedicated to the ideals of serving the Creator; of going beyond our limitations and reaching new heights; of new animal and plant life), we experience the sensation of making, once again, a new start.

Yes, the twelve months recently concluded were momentous ones.  Yet, we have many occasions to begin anew and celebrate the opportunities that the future brings.  Isn’t that enough of a reason to rejoice?

Happy January

What a year it was.  2012 saw more than one instance of senseless tragedy; the awesome and terrible power of weather; a  tumultuous Presidential campaign; an Olympic Games replete with the pageantry, excitement, emotion, and unforgettable moments for which they are known; economic ups and downs leading us to the brink of the Fiscal Cliff; and much, much more.  With everything that befell us during the last twelve months, it is hard to believe that so many events could take place in one year.  It is with mixed emotions that we close the chapter on 2012 and turn the calendar page.

Hopefully, 2013 will be better, many of us think.  However, when I woke up this morning, the world did not look any different.  A little quieter, perhaps–fewer people were going to work and engaging in their normal daily activities–but not different.  (I recall as a child feeling a bit nostalgic for the year that was.  Yet, now I realize that the numbers by which a year are known are only that–numbers.)  When those who had the day off return to their routines, there will be the same commutes, crowds, interpersonal relationships, demands, and responsibilities that existed yesterday.  The only difference is that people will write 2013–if they remember.

This has been a year of major personal change, as well.  My long-held school librarian position was reduced to one day a week (thank budget cuts plaguing so many schools).  Two new granddaughters are now part of our family, one of whom was born this past Friday.   A nice way to top of the year, we all agree.

So let’s look ahead to another twelve months that has much in store for us personally and globally.  While we cannot control many of the events that come our way, we can control how we view and react to them.  With a little kindness, a pleasant countenance, and determination to climb over (or around, under, or through) any obstacles in our path, we can make 2013 a really great year.  Let’s start right now.

What a Year It’s Been

As I was thinking about important dates and upcoming events, something gave me pause.  Didn’t we just light the Chanukah menorah?  I can remember exactly what I was doing when the festival began a year ago.  My post on this humble blog from that time is fresh in my memory.  (I can’t always say the same thing about what happened a week or month before.)

To be sure, this has been a year chock-full of momentous occasions, some good, some less so.  And some of the not-so-perfect events turned out to be not-so-bad.  There is also much to look forward to in the weeks and months to come.  One might think that, with so many notable events,  a year would feel much longer.

Perhaps age has something to do with this phenomenon.  After all, next month I, thank G-d, join the ranks of the sixty-somethings.

Whatever the reason for the warp-speed flight of the past year, I know one thing.  It’s a lesson we can take from the Chanukah story.  If a small, weak, and outnumbered group of people could take on a mighty army, with confidence in the Almighty’s help, and emerge victorious, there is nothing too difficult for me to accomplish.  All I need to do is make the effort, demonstrate the will, and maintain the trust that I will receive the assistance necessary to achieve my goal.  It’s happened often in the past.  It will happen again.

Have a joyous Chanukah!

Time Waits for No Man…or Woman

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

Dr. Seuss certainly got it right.

I keep thinking of our recently married daughter as a new bride.  However, a recent glance at a calendar made me realize that her June 27 wedding was almost six months ago.

On occasion, when I come out of a subway station, it takes me a moment to recall what happened to the leaves that were so recently on the trees, weren’t they?

And that isn’t all.  Some students came into the elementary library and, looking at newborn pictures of two of our grandchildren, asked who they are.  When I told them that the pictures are not recent–the boys are now almost four and five and are both big brothers–my words gave me pause.

Even the end of our marigold season sent a message about the passage of time.  For, as I mentioned in my previous post, in only four months it will be possible to plant new blossoms.

Lest one think this is cause for a bout of depression, the forward movement of days, weeks, months, and years can be a reason to celebrate.  Each flower that grows and blooms, every child who is born, grows, becomes an adult, marries, and becomes a parent, demonstrates that the world is running exactly as it should.  I feel like dancing already…