A Wonderful World

On Christmas Eve I took the truck out to run an errand (get Chanukah cards. Someone had not pulled their display and it was a good time to restock) before going to the gym. The live broadcast of the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols had started on the PBS radio station and I listened to “Once in Royal David’s City” as I got back into the truck, followed by the invocation, and “What Sweeter Music” by John Rutter (one of my favorites). It struck me just how wonderful, unbelievably wonderful, my world is.

I had the resources, after the insurance finished totalling out the old truck, to replace the vehicle. I could listen to music from England and worship in public, although bowing one’s head, eyes closed, in traffic is not encouraged by either my faith tradition or the laws of man. I was on my way to the gym to exercise, since I live in a culture and economy where diseases of over-eating outnumber those of starvation and malnutrition. And while my body aches and has motion problems, most of those are temporary and self-inflicted. Exercise and caution has kept my back from getting worse for now, and the bruises from the wreck have finally healed.

After the gym, I went home. I checked in with friends I’ve never met in person, read Christmas cards from friends I made 20+ years ago, helped Dad do house-stuff, and wrote.

I have you, my reader-friends, who encourage me and help support my bad habits. I know sometimes I let you down, but I’m trying to get better.

I have a steady job that has some stresses, but not the sort of physical risks many other people encounter. Said job allows me to inflict, er, pass on my passion for history and stories to another generation. I won’t convert anyone to being a historian, but if I can help spur interest in the past in a few, I will declare it a win.

I get to travel to fascinating corners of the German-speaking world, seeing places and hearing stories few others can or desire to.

2015 has not been fun at times. Who knows what 2016 holds? Not I.

Thus I wish you a very happy New Year. May you cherish the good memories, let go of the bad ones, and have a healthy and prosperous, healthy, and quiet 2016.

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