After all the losses of this past year (even before Tom died, we'd lost eight friends or spouses of friends since March) and especially those since November (Tom, the love of my life; my mother; and Bob Webb, another friend), the holidays almost over, and I'm back from my mother's funeral in Milwaukee, now I can start to discover the new rhythm of my life...

NOW I can get serious about the decluttering. Not just stuff taken to Goodwill or donated to the Nottingham library sale, but selling ephemera on eBay, bigger stuff sold more locally on Craig's List, some pricier books at Amazon, maybe an etsy shop for the vintage and interesting jewelry. Now that I can pile things in the middle of the floor without having to worry about Tom navigating around the house in his wheelchair, I can call the magazine guy...and the LP guy...and the antiques guy.

Maybe with some of the legacy from my mother, I can get a real floor downstairs to cover the badly aging subflooring we've been living with for 33 years...

I've started going to a monthly poetry hoot in Portsmouth, and an every other week song circle in Dover. I'm going to try to get to a few other music sessions in Gloucester or Newburyport, MA occasionally (especially when the weather gets better and if I can find a bed so I don't have to drive all the way home late at night) and other written and spoken word gatherings in Portsmouth.

Continuing projects are The Archive/Tom's Musical Legacy, of course, relearning guitar (especially Tom's "Anglo-Saxon crash thud" method), my writing, and maybe finding time to do more beading and rubberstamp art.

My New Year's resolutions are pretty much the same as they've been for years -- throw out, give to friends, donate, or sell something every day; learn at least one song a month; and try to add 5 minutes of meditation to the start of every day.

I think just the change in meals now that I'm preparing meals just for myself (and after having Tom do almost all of the cooking for 30 years) will have me losing some weight. And making time to walk on a regular basis will help.

And maybe, now that I have no excuses, the house will eventually get more or less CLEAN.

But ultimately the goal is simple -- to continue moving forward. Right, Stilly?

Linn