So This Is the New Year ... and I Don't Feel Any Different

There is something about the end of the year. Its almost like it gets rushed or hurried due to its proximity to Christmas. I wish we had more time to reflect on the year - it goes by so fast yet so much has happened in 2006.

I started the "Oh Six" with a New Years kiss and fire works in Old Town Alexandria at the Masonic Temple. I worked in Philadelphia for a week, studied for the GRE, took the GRE, took a trip to Outer Banks North Carolina, sent flowers to my mom, went to Disneyland with my nieces and nephews, went apartment hunting, moved into the city, saw 4 concerts at the 930 Club, went to New York and stayed in the W Hotel Time Square, was a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding, saw the first Virgin Festival in the US in Baltimore, started working with a personal trainer, cut my hair 13 inches and donated it to locks of love, saw Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater, ice skated by the White House, booked a ticket to Europe, and started tutoring a 15 year old girl.

Many of us like to think about the past ... people tend to be nostalgic - why is that? As I am writing this I am watching a Discovery Channel show about a possible new dinosaur species. All I could think about was - wow these guys are making a living at studying animals that live millions of years ago. And following the dino show is another show narrated by Alec Baldwin, none the less, about the history of man ... and relating it to Hamlet ... "can we ever know ourselves without knowing our past?" he asks ... hmmm. But that is an entirely different subject ... not only do I have an undergraduate degree in Archaeology, but I have a growing fascination with cemeteries, especially since I moved back east. I was uploading pictures on my new mac (yes pictures are finally here!) and realized I have quite a few photos of cemeteries ... more than the average person I am guessing. This one is from Manhattan - across from the World Trade Center site.



Then in the spring I went to Monticello and saw the Jefferson family graves ... I do believe that April is the most beautiful time of year in Virginia. I think you could agree with this. The cherry blossoms are out and the grass is green. I could lay to rest peacefully here.



My last example is from Annapolis, Maryland and is a little more typical as far as the conotations of creepy, wet, drab, and depressing that the word CEMETARY evokes. But I can see the beauty in Queen Anne's cemetery - even if it is a little neglected. Peacful, graceful, and reflective.




Perhaps its my "old soul" or maybe its the architectural details found in headstones of old cemetaries that draw me in. I don't know exactly ... but I like the enviornment they create, giving me time to clear my head, reflect, and think on the important things of this life ... I guess you could say it helps me to leave the world behind.