I’m ready to get back to normal. What is normal? No colored lights hanging from the gutters and ledges, the pine tree out of the living room and back outside, minus the lights and ornaments, drinking coffee from a real mug, without Christmas bears on them, all that is a start. Moving my bass, stands, stools and music back to the front room and Linda getting her mandolins and guitar back in there too are a very big part of normal.
Did I mention not having to play Christmas songs or carols for another 11 months?
All that stuff above is the comfortable appearance of normal. What really is normal is getting back into my routine, my regular exercise days, band rehearsal on Tuesday, two jams on Wednesday, maybe a rehearsal on Saturday, Mexican food on Friday and afternoons free to walk up to my bass and play some, sing a song that is stuck in my head or pick a little with Linda.
Is it okay to be a scrooge after Christmas if you behaved yourself during the season? I actually had a festive holiday with my family that I enjoyed thoroughly. Dinner with everyone, presents and, most importantly, spending time with them.
Helping my normalcy is that the days are getting longer now and have been for about 10 days now. I don’t know about you but I look forward to the 30-40 seconds a day of increased daylight. I’m in awe of the ancient humans who figured out the solstices and the equinoxes through observing nature. They seemed to be in tune to these natural changes and didn’t need any calendar to tell them when the days got longer or shorter.
As the grist quote lets you know, I’m not big on resolutions. I don’t need a calendar turnover to motivate me to make any necessary changes. I’m way to stubborn for that. I know I need to make changes periodically but I like to think that it happens more naturally for me than by the calendar changing to January 1. Nature could be the long days of spring inspiring me or it could be a different kind of nature, Linda telling me to get my self in gear. Both work well for me.
Along with getting back into my daily routine, I am looking forward to the adventures 2015 will bring. Camping trips, gigs, festivals, family vacations and hopefully more are on the agenda for next year.
Speaking about routines, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that this Sunday January 4 is the first Sunday of the month and that means the Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Jam is happening from 1:00 – 5:00 at the Hoover Middle School in San Jose (at the corner of Park and Naglee.) Now that is a routine to get into.
I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous New Year.
Catch you next month.
