20231209_164135

there was a time when i would search for beautiful  and or interesting wall calendars  and then years ago,  went to my first Dollar Store in Los Lunas  NM   and there….Butterflies     One Dollar      with excellent open format for  Keeping Track and it's been that way ever since…how long?   over 10 years for sure  maybe even almost 20  and i would sit with them on New Year's Eve and bring forward into the New Year things like birthdays and significant events to celebrate again,    at the same time,  Re~viewing all that had been.   As i write that now,  i think….as long as i have lived alone and the question comes….How Long?,  have i lived alone?        Every December i "worry"  they won't have them….go with trepidation and riffle through the box which are all at first  kittens and waterfalls and famous architecture  and always,  so far, finally ….Butterflies.   This time  was even one of Pigs.  which might have been possible.    When i went yesterday,  i looked where i thought they would be  and no,     my heart  sank.   i found  someone,   asked     she said….Yes…all happy….up by the check out….a prominent place so i am wondering if there are more of  "me"  who look forward to their new year this way?  am thinking this is so.

 people have opinions about dollar stores but          also yesterday,    a  2lb bag of small avacados  $3 ,  i thought maybe some might not be great,  but so far…each has been probably the BEST avacado  i've  had in years. 

 this year i'll go back to that Ritual.  It was quite a year.   There will be things to bring Forward.  

the News today is dire and heartbreaking.   But there are these small things.  and i think… BE   the bell that still can ring.   ok.   ok.

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12 responses to “Once again”

  1. Nancy Avatar

    I’m so happy that you found one for 2024!! I’ve been thinking about you and your ritual. I think this year, as far as I know, we will need to purchase a “wall calendar”. I write some on them, but really, not that much. They are more to just know that date and to put red hearts on days I go to the well.
    My nerve wrecking one is the little ‘free’ Hallmark purse calendars, tnat I have used almost every year since 1971! That is the space where I squish everything. They are small, with small daily boxes…my joke has always been that If I need a bigger calendar or a “datebook”, then I am doing too much! 2023 tested that self-made theory a lot! haha
    So, every November, when they get them in, I rush over to get mine. We are down to one, maybe two Hallmark stores in my valley and they limit one per customer and this year, you had to spend at least one dollar to get one, so no longer ‘free’. No worries.
    I too have made a ritual of transferring info from year to year (I think due to you). But, already 2024 has a few appointments scheduled. I puzzled over this, as I wanted to continue my ritual and honoring of a New Year…until I finally came to the conclusion that I could write those appointments in now, but wait to do the other stuff. Duh. It took me forever to think of this solution! haha But, it really is that important to me and really on the only ritual I’ve actually done year after year!
    Here’s to a New Year with boxes of happy and rememberence and not too much busy! xo

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  2. Maria Avatar
    Maria

    Ho you are going with the bell of light , you see the cracks you ring , and thank you for that , even you all who give comment , you are by moments the shiny light thru the cracks of life , have a bright sunday even when the sunlight is behint the clouds , we knew she is always shining that is who she is

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  3. Deb G Avatar

    I think there will always be butterflies for you. πŸ™‚

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  4. Liz A Avatar

    calendars I have known and loved … in high school, calendars illustrated with scenes from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings … over the past five years, Sandra Boynton’s Every Day’s a Holiday calendars with grin-inducing critters … and this year I have added stickers to many of the days with photos of our family, which I will reveal on the blog after they have been gifted to our grandkids so we can celebrate each day together (online)
    so yes, calendars are a wonderful way to mark our days, to anticipate our joys, and even to remember our losses … may your New Year be notable in the all the best ways

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  5. Saskia van Herwaarden Avatar

    just reading about your annual ritual makes me smile Grace, and your joy at finding a new butterfly calendar fills me with joy too; togther we have travelled a long way or so it seems after all these years reading each others’ posts….namastΓ©

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  6. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Always, I look forward to the new printed calendars that I get each year. They fluctuate between the free calendars at our local library, created by senior citizens who take photos of the New Mexican landscape, the adobe homes and ruins, the weathered gates, New Mexico gardens. There are times when spirit calls and then nothing but a Celtic Mandala calendar will do for the new year. One year our daughter and our grand kids created a calendar for us out of photos of times when we were with all of them- I still have that as a keepsake.
    Rich loves any calendar that features the Hawaiian islands and his calendar this year is an 18 month calendar. I turned to that calendar for solace after the devastation on Maui in August…it helped to look at the beauty of Maui and know that one day, Maui will return, perhaps not as it once was but always spirit strong with its every lasting beauty…

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  7. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes…boxes of Life!

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  8. grace Forrest Avatar

    always…the Light is there
    and then…i think tonight of Candles

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar

    i am hoping you are right

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar

    i am appreciating exactly what they ARE in a new
    and different way
    i look forward to seeing what you have created

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar

    we have. many years.
    i was looking for something the other day and found
    the calendar of Yours …how i love it…how i wish
    yours were
    large

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar

    i need one that has empty boxes…
    mine are often FULL of things to be remembered…
    and even more now…all the kids stuff
    and often i have Alyssia’s appointments to help her
    remember
    and then to help me know when not to interrupt her
    life with phone or message
    and things of Goats
    Garden
    on and on
    i need empty boxes

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