I went outside to drink my coffee by the fireplace and the warming sun and light breeze summoned me to stay.

Come find the first camellias hidden beneath leaves and fern fronds, it bade. Come to see if the hydrangeas are budding.

Oh no! Something is infecting our berry vines. Make a note to head to the garden shop with a dead branch in hand. And remember, handle carefully. Boy, those things have thorns!

After cutting away some of the worst of the berry vine damage, I was summoned to the roses for a bit of pruning.  While enjoying my task and making a mental to-do list, I realized this was the first truly carefree moment I’d had in weeks.

The holidays were full and overflowing, bursting with family and friends old and new. Friends filled out house on New Year’s Day.  We set out the remaining Christmas treats, chips and salsa, cheese and crackers and an interesting array of beverages pulled from our fridge and theirs.

I was pleased that our home really is the ideal space for entertaining. There was the football cluster, the card game group and the chatting and snacking bunch. Periodically, we’d regroup and repeat. Everyone was thrilled to be together, and the noise level when everyone first arrived rivaled a jet engine.

Today, we are down to just 3 in the house, and a sense of calm pervades. My daughters are on the phone right now saying how much they miss each other 24 hours after parting.

A newspaper article about 2025 being a mathematically perfect square, got me thinking what else makes this year noteworthy in our lives. I will celebrate a significant birthday – think zeros. (Somebody, throw me a party!) And we will have been married 45 years in late summer. Another party, perhaps? On a more somber note, I realized that 2025 marks 40 years since my mom died.

Finally, this will be the first full calendar year in our new home.

Moving was the theme of 2024. It took a lot of work to release about half of our belongings. I sold my china cabinet and a bedroom set, my dad’s machinist tool chest, a vintage typewriter and an antique radio. We donated prom dresses, my wedding dress, china and antiques, books, clothing and my mother’s hats.  Some of the items were family treasures that required an entire grief process before I could let them go. But the joy of the people who claimed our old possessions took much pain out of the process.

One of my favorite examples was a tiny ceramic tea pot that I bought in Quebec City years ago. In due course, it was relegated to a high shelf in the kitchen and never used. I sold it for a few dollars to a young man who sent me a photo a day or so later. Pictured was the tea pot, a cup of tea and a plate with a single cookie. It was perfect, he said, for something sweet after dinner.

He already loved the tea pot more than I ever did.

Since our move, we’ve searched out the best places for burgers, fish and chips and clam chowder. We’ve explored beaches and piers and small towns. There is so much more for us to discover.

Let 2025 begin!