Easing out of December and taking the new year one unhurried day at a time

While the year is still new, there is a softness to the days that does not last long. The holidays have packed themselves away, and the calendar has turned without yet asking much of us. Mornings arrive more gently. Even the house seems to move at a slower pace, as though it, too, is willing to linger a moment before the year begins in earnest.

Porches are swept clean. Decorations are carefully taken down and set aside. The lights that remain are fewer, but somehow warmer for it. Routines return slowly — politely — without knocking too loudly. Most of the calendar is still blank, and there is comfort in that. Room to move. Room to breathe.

By the time January reaches its first full week, the talk of New Year’s resolutions has begun to hum a little louder. Lists are made. Promises are weighed. Some folks feel the pull to hurry — to decide everything at once, or to prove something before the year has truly had time to arrive.

But there is no bell to beat here.

Wanting to grow, to heal, to be a little kinder or steadier than before — those are good and worthy hopes. They always are. Still, it does not require urgency to be sincere, nor obsession to be real. Becoming better is not a race, and it does not need to come at the expense of health, family, or happiness.

It is enough, for now, to live the day we have been given. To notice the quiet. To enjoy the ordinary moments as they come. The rest of the year will find us soon enough, and it has a way of unfolding whether we push it or not.

This is the kind of season that makes room for small stories again.

Somewhere between these quiet mornings and the still-clean pages of a new calendar, Felicity Grace Merriweather has already begun gathering a few good things worth sharing. Small kindnesses. Neighborly moments. The sort of good news that does not shout, but stays.

You will be hearing more from Felicity soon as Lifestyles Editor in The Hearth & Holler Gazette, premiering January 24.

For now, there is no rush. The year is still new — and there is time enough yet to take it as it comes.

So let us keep the door open a little longer and move gently into the days ahead. There will be time for plans and promises soon enough. Today, it is enough simply to be here, breathing in the calm, and carrying it with us as we go. Wishing all the very best for you and yours in the New Year!

— Jim  (and Red!)

P.S. from Little Red Bear — I had planned to be very sensible about honey and cookies this year. That plan lasted until breakfast. It turns out some resolutions are better replaced with a second cup of tea and a little grace.

Pen-and-ink illustrations created with the assistance of AI and lovingly styled for Little Red Bear Land.