Frosty End of Year Musings

 I hope this finds you looking forward to 2022 with hope. January starts tomorrow, a month named after Janus, the god of gates and doors. Janus had two faces in order to look forward and backwards at the same time. And as we move into the new year, we can't help but look back at last year and compare it with plans for the next. 

For me, 2021 started out with a total shut down in London and flight cancellations disrupting travel. School went back online, and I battled COVID throughout February and March. The summer hinted of normal times with family gatherings and nature walks in the great outdoors. In the fall school in Abuja continued as normal and we all appreciated the opportunity to travel for a week in October.  It wasn't until December that we started to feel the effects of the virus again.  Positive tests again disrupted travel, and we considered ourselves fortunate to make the trip to the subfreezing temperatures and warm celebrations in Minnesota. 

Plans for 2022 consist of a series of question marks. Will our travel plans go ahead as planned? How will the virus affect school this spring? Where will we be headed come June? There have been times when this indefinite future would crush me. However, I believe I am learning to live with uncertainty.  The trick is to see how events and plans stand relative to the bigger picture.

Another arctic freeze is blowing in to Minnesota. The world has turned white and frosty. With relatively mild temperatures, which means not too far below freezing, I decided to go for a walk in the winter wonderland.  The snow lacks color, but it provides contrast and emphasizes details of individual pine needles, twisting twigs, grasses and the tracks of each bird, rabbit and pet. And when the cold wind blows, each individual snowflake floats away. Ordinary objects are frosted and bedazzled. And the whiteness is all the more appealing seen through the windows of a warm kitchen.

I am not traveling on safari in South Africa, nor am I on a beach in the Seychelles. But I am with family, well fed and within reach of anything I might need.  Within days I will need to start navigating the COVID guidelines once again, and I expect to find delays and changes of plans. But I will take each setback one at a time, trying to find the silver (frosty) lining of each cloud. I can say, at last, " I am at peace."