Fresh Starts

You might think that we've had it with fresh starts, having undertaken so many of them this year. But every New Year's Eve seems to bring up the topic of fresh starts.

In my family (and I'm guessing this comes from the Vietnamese side of the family) New Year's Eve is about fixing and mending things. And you must do all the cooking and cleaning ahead of time. New Year's Day, you have to wear at least one brand new item of clothing, and not lift a finger to do anything you don't relish doing. I think the gift of a new item of clothing was a welcome addition of the French tradition of etrennes. The idea is that whatever you start off the year doing, you might end up doing all year. So wear something new, and no chores! Which takes some planning.

Somewhere Mike must have gotten this virus, because today he independently came up with the notion of fixing up Dora. See photo above--yes, that's a T-shirt, it's warm weather again!

This past week has been one of real comfort for us, which only dramatizes the tragedies the people of 12 South Asian nations are having to endure. There's little I could say that wouldn't sound trite, or would reflect the grief I feel for them. Several of the locations hard hit are spots we haunted in my childhood vacations, others places Mike and I had on our list of future destinations, echoes of warm distant places with smiles and simple living, ravaged as though they didn't already have enough to shoulder. As I worked the sewing machine this morning mending clothes for the new year, I thought of the immensity of healing and repair our brethren across the globe face. How lucky are we that our tasks are so finite.