January. We’re almost clear of all the resolution talk and back to plain old life. 

It had been a while since I had played Big Tree Eight Ball…where I take a moment to pause in front of the forest elder, take a few breaths, and see if he-she has any insight to share, so I gave it a spin this morning.

Feeling like a bit of a conscientious objector to new beginnings myself, I thought I had come up empty, and started home. For some reason, I turned back for one more look. I chuckled seeing Cedar doing the same—maybe both of us taken with the sunlit side of the old spruce. 

The phrase “bright side” popped into my head, dragging with it the old standby of river rafting: “high side!” One usually shouts or thinks “high side” when shit is in the process of hitting the fan… the low side starting to get sucked under the current, and worse forthcoming. Anyone on board needs to scramble to the high side.

So maybe my resolution is to be better prepared to scramble for the bright side. (Now Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” has to be reckoned with.) But what if I spent a little extra time in coming days mentally “bright siding”..?

I might be incredibly thankful that Tim, Cedar, and I survived a 50+mph set of 360s and a high impact dive into the ditch in the truck a few days ago with yours truly at the wheel. I might be savoring the fresh memory of Katie-love for all of us as she wings her way back to college. This in turn might encourage me to appreciate the few days I have left with Tim here, and to vicariously feel all that hope of a kid who just finished college. 

And, hey, we are on the bright side of the winter solstice.