2009 Remembered

photo: Eric Diesel

It's very cold and blustery in New York City today, so everyone who can is staying inside. A pot of soup is bubbling on the stove and a tray of cookies is baking in the oven, while a slate of old films on television provides pleasant company. Friends and family have checked in by phone or email, all to state that it was great to be in touch over the holidays. We will long remember putting up the tree, getting together to exchange presents, and a special New Year's Eve --which will be remembered not just for our hosts' wonderful food and the generosity of their bartending, but for the company.

I use this downtime for organizing, a January tradition many of us share, some ideas for which I will be posting this month. After updating addresses and prepping next year's mailing list, the holiday cards have been set aside for scrapbooks. This year's photos have been uploaded into digital albums, and the favorites -- of holiday decor, feasts, and our first snowfall --printed, also to be included in those scrapbooks. Favorite recipes have been printed or photocopied, with notations for dishes that will find places on next year's tables. I have sorted through last year's papers, filing away bills and receipts, remembering to set aside what we will need for the unpleasantness of tax season. The last of the thank you notes is written and stamped, to be dropped in tomorrow's mail as we sail into what is, for many of us, the first work day of 2010.

New Year's is nostalgic and exciting at the same time, which I always find a lovely frame of mind to be in. So even as we set the stage for 2010, I look back on 2009 as a year of celebrations and simple moments. I wrote about a lot of them: we undertook a dining room redecoration project and a large-scale memorykeeping project. We hosted Thanksgiving in that new room, but by that time we had broken it in over many dinners together and with friends. We learned about, and worked at, bat conservation, canning, sewing, and wine. Spurred by a trip to a Basque restaurant, I tried my hand at Basque cooking; I also baked my first pumpkin cheesecake.

And, of course, I started keeping this blog. I have gotten wonderful feedback, for which I thank everyone who shared it. I already have posts cued for January. January is one of my favorite months not just because of the sense of accomplishment at a year's worth of papers filed away, a bed freshly made with new sheets from the white sales, an excuse for a gathering just exactly when we most need a night out. January is the promise of new beginnings, exciting because it's new but bittersweet because even in this newness, time marches forward. January is the reflection of snow on ice, as clean as icicles and as hearty as the evergreens they hang from. But the sun is setting a few minutes later each day, moving on its -- and our -- journey towards spring.