year end post

As if gray hair wasn't enough to let the world know that I'm getting older, yesterday I found myself cantankerous enough to be almost tempted to write a letter to the editor of our local newspaper. Yep, chalk it up with all the things I already do that tells me in not so subtle ways that I am not as young as I think I am, like moisturize and wear woolen socks and let out a weightlifter's groan when I push myself up from a squat.

I'm actually ok with aging, much as I like to make fun of it. Most all the physical stuff I don't mind because it's what makes me unique and I earned every weird nook, cranny, and wrinkle. But I find it curious and inexplicable that I should end this year bothered by another person's letter to the editor. Perhaps this kind of thing just comes with age, or perhaps it was the blogging that planted the seed from which my voice still grows.

I started Kalyxcornucopia this year on a whim, intending it as a refuge where Baxter's dad could visit for a quick slice of cutie kielbasa pie before returning to the stress and doldrums of work. It never occurred to me that this blog might call out to new friends, new perspectives, and even new creative outlets. All of this, because one day I gave up the notion of achieving perfection, and instead took the plunge, ready or not, and corrected as I went along. A way of life that I think Baxter could have taught me much earlier if I had only listened to what his actions had to say.

This blog, Baxter's life, my life, are all still works in progress. It's hard to imagine what challenges and joys might greet us in the coming year, but I hope we can meet them all with the goofy grace and charm that only a dachshund can bring into the fray. My life, enriched by a seventeen pound fur covered kielbasa, lived one day at a time.