Happy New Year 2010

It was a coolish and grey New Year's Eve when the barge nudged the bank at the boat landing near the house. We did not hear it arrive quietly in the morning hours. The big blue boat pushing the barge looked like a World War II landing ship with it prow that would open onto the bank. Large pilings were strapped to the sides of the barge, but all was quiet around it.

The dark water barely rippled under the ominous clouds that gathered. Rain would come. A stillness permeated the air and damp. No wind wiggled the tree limbs or leaves left on the myrtle. No fish jumped. No boats left their wake in the creek.

The house still held its Christmas decorations like failing spots of joy in the dismal day, but the tall pines stood starkly against the sky, silhouettes of summer days. And, deciduous trees poured upward like dark paint streaking toward the heavens. Birds kept to their nests in the dogwood trees.

The magnolias ignored the gloomy weather, the forthcoming rain and pushed their glossy leaves forward. The white camellia buds continued to ripen unharmed by the cold nights.

Inside, the Wii twinkled it upbeat tune. Cats dozed happily in chairs out of the swing of the controller. The phone was quiet. Knitting, reading, holding hands. A very good ending for the year. Happy New Year 2010.