Hope-y New Year!
OK. I know. That’s one super hokey, cornball headline. No doubt about it.
But I’m using it anyway. It suits my mood as I write this greeting.
It matched my mood during a Dungeness crab dinner with friends the other night, when I lifted a glass of prosecco and said, straight-faced, “Happy New Year, everybody. Maybe something good will happen in 2022!”
Let’s get real. What good can possibly transpire in the coming months? An end to the covid pandemic? A detente in the culture wars? A climate change reversal? World peace?
But hope is my default mood. It’s a life-long habit, and maybe it’s what causes me to come up with punny headlines and then — rashly — let them go public.
Like a lot of people, as December rolls to a close, I can’t help thinking that the new year will somehow be better than the old year.
And so, on this first day of 2022, I’m sticking with hope. I recommend hope. Not because hope is rational, or gets results, or assures that 2022 will be any better than 2021, or even that hope is good for your mental health.
Hope feels good, that’s all. Sorta like a bite of crab followed by a sip of prosecco.
So, bring it on, 2022. Surprise us.
Read about the year 2020 at “Widowed: 2020 Was a Very Good Year for Jon and Me.” Or read about the year we wrote the letter that changed our lives at “A Baby to Adopt — The Letter That Made It Happen.”
Jocelyn Newell says
Hope-y New Year to you.
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Same to you!
Lynn Cloonan Olson says
Thanks for the cheerful Hope-y New Year greeting! I know it has been a tough year for you. 2022 is bound to be better, using your hope hypothesis. but I would not hold out for any of the changes you suggest. I will only hope for good health, good friends, and great food! That is hope for all of us!
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Right. I’m hoping for good friends and good health. As for the good food — that was Jon’s job, and now I’m having to resign myself to spending time in the kitchen when I’d rather be reading, writing, walking or digging up the crocosmias that have gotten loose in my back yard.
Sue Watson says
Barbie, wishing you the traditional Happy New Year. Much more comes with it from the heart as I know it is one full of memories and fondness for Jon in your thoughts and feelings . Love and hugs, Sue W
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Thanks, Sue!
jan says
HOPE-Y NEW YEAR, BARBARA!
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
THANKS, JAN!
Deidre Brodeur-Coen says
Happy New Year Barbara. Here’s to hope for 2022!
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Yes, here’s hoping for good things in 2022. If I can get my new garden planted and growing in the next six months, maybe that will do the trick for me.