On the occasion of the New Year and some sense of hope for improvement in any areas, I would like to forward the following lyrics of Al Grierson's to Mudcatters everywhere, as my New Year's wish:

'TIL THE CIRCLE IS COMPLETE

Both the turning of the season and the ticking of the clock
Say the planet's one year older -- so are you.
But I'll leave the speculation and the silly idle talk
For another time and someone else to do.

There'll be a celebration at the end of every street,
When we claim our bread and roses, and the circle is complete.
So if destiny should drag you down, or dress you up in style,
May you never be too weary
To walk another mile.

And may you never cease your growing,
And your learning as you grow;
May the things that you discover
Be the things you want to know
May you gain in strength through sorrow,
And may all your love be true;
May you turn your hand to something
That you really want to do.

May your friends encounter fortune,
And your comrades find release
Though they see the hopes of others disappear
May your parents die contented, and your children live in peace,
Though the hands of desperation hold them near;
Should the future find you lying with a lover by your side
Or left alone with broken arms, and all your dreams denied
May your footsteps ring like rifles through the darkness of defeat,
May your spirit never falter,
'Til the circle is complete.

And may you never cease your growing
Your learning as you grow.
May the things that you discover be the things you want to know.
May you gain in strength through sorrow,
And may all your love be true;
May you turn your hand to something
That you really want to do.

May your life be like a love song in the act of every breath,
Be a poem to the purpose that it serves;
May you set your shoes to dancing in the hour of your death
And meet it with the courage it deserves;
May your shadow pass in pirouettes of such amazing grace
That the tears of those who mourn you disappear without a trace.
In the smoke that shapes their sorrow to the fading of your feats
In a ring around the rainbow,
Where the circle is complete.

And may you never cease your growing,
Your learning as you grow.
May the things that you discover be the things you want to know.
May you gain in strength through sorrow,
And may all your love be true;
May you turn your hand to something
That you really want to do.

May you turn your hand to something
That you really want to do.