Down by the Sea....
With my little dog and my Camping Buddy....the wind and the waves, the snow and ice,
the sand and seal carcass, the broken shells and shorebirds, the driftwood and detritus, trees and terns...I have been cleansed, enlivened, and Cosmically Embraced..
and I ate a whole lot of great sugar Xmas cookies, drank a whole lot of good coffee, and took some long, long, and bountiful walks with my black and white buddy while the sun rose and the moon set and when the moon rose and the sun set.

Melodie Beattie has some thoughts that are speaking to me today--this sparkle day, this last day of December, this last day of a year many people want to kick to the curb---
"Honor the lessons you've learned, and those who helped you learn them. Honor the journey your soul mapped out for you. Trust all the places you've been. Make a scrapbook in your heart to help you remember...Let the journey unfold. Let it be magical. The way has been prepared. (Many and Blessings) will be expecting you..."

The soundtrack of my life today holds the goofy grunts of my pup as he tries to steal another one of my socks from the dirty laundry basket. It contains the quiet breathing of my husband as he reads and sips another cup of relaxing tea. It contains the nestling noises of a teenager who will not be joining us until after the noonhour when we shall insist that she arise. It contains a Colleen crooning "Down by the Sea" and "Lizzy Lindsay" and "Gallant Murray". It contains the sweet, melodic sounds of Provenance by Harper Tasche. It contains the beating of my Whole Heart. And this Whole Journey.