new year's resolutions

today i am 59. i have completed 59 years, and go
waltzing into the 60th.
i don't have words to describe just how weird this is.
i never, ever expected to live this long. or wanted to.

be that as it may, things change. and so have i.

i decided that it is more fitting to give rather
than receive on my birthday. for all of you, infusions of light,
that awaken the highest and best in us all, on all levels,
that we may all prosper and grow, daily.
the local folks also get chocolate cupcakes!

this being a new year, i have some intentions.

as i refine my "seeing", i take lots of increasingly fine photos.
i get a better camera. (in the works as we speak.)
i tell the truth. to myself.
i travel to places that i haven't seen before.
i deepen my existing relationships, and create some new ones.
i write MUCH better poetry. (can't get much worse-no wait, i'm not rod mckuen bad yet.)
i learn to play the harmonica.
i continue to celebrate each day by asking, "what good comes my way today?"
and then i find it.
of course, i continue with yoga, as my guiding light.
maybe, just maybe, i'll do a dropback.
oh yes- i WILL rock and roll!

and then there's this:

i can say, i'm in much better shape than junior:

and some days are like this:

no matter. i'll take them all.

close encounters

i marked the beginning of 2010 while camping in death valley. a better way to begin the new year i could not have asked for. the weather was good, even though we had one chilly, overcast day. didn't matter. much in the way of atv noises, both from a neighboring dune system (where they're allowed), and closer to us (where they're illegal.) didn't matter. i returned feeling drained of any and all tension, with a clarity of purpose and vision befitting starting a new year.
and we had a visitor.

(not my photo-found on the web.)

this one showed up at midnight on new year's eve. guess she was looking for a party to crash. she found one in my food box. there is evidence to support a theft of fudge by friend fox. a rather brazen one, it took the throwing of a rock to finally convince her that the party she was looking for was elsewhere. good fox medicine for the next year.
and for the first time in years, i was awake when the new year rolled in!

then there were these folks.

fortunately, these weren't too near our campsite. we did spot some about a mile away, big ones. not a cat you want to keep in the house-or tent.

and we saw several groups of these..

i am in total accordance with the urge to go barefoot in the sand. but geez, look, ROCKS here-and a lot of them! (there's a rock post coming, by the way.) if we hadn't seen more than one set, i would have thought it a prank.

there were also bird and snake prints galore. i couldn't get a decent shot of either of those. the light was not forgiving of a rookie photographer.

there's more to be said about this trip (rock post!). there are more photos to put up, more thoughts to be shared. for now-
happy new year, all.
set your intentions, and act accordingly!