Happy New Year!

Worldwide, people celebrate January 1st as the beginning of a New Year.

For me, the New Year begins when Fall arrives.

I love Fall. The time when Earth shakes itself from a lazy Summers nap and fills the air with crackling energy.

Fall, in all it's glorious colors and blustery winds, fills me with it's promises of things to come.

Shiny faced kids in fresh haircuts and crisp new clothes stepping onto polished yellow school bus's to begin a new school year.

Children bedecked in goulish Halloween outfits, running wild with sugar crazed eyes. The aroma of Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie. The tinkling of Christmas bells whispering of festivities to come.

It is in these three months of Fall that I feel the most impact of the twelve months that make up a year.

I wish for you all, a wonderful New Year filled with the goodness of family, the sounds of children laughing, the gentle purr of a cat dozing in front of a crackling fire, the crunch of fallen leaves beneath the paws of a tail wagging dog, the warmth of a loved ones hand in yours as you walk through the dancing winds of Fall.