Redtree Times

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And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.

― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke, 1892-1910

I felt that the last day of the year deserved a post. But I am not feeling very peppy this morning, if peppy is even a real term, and my brain didn’t feel like serving up anything new.  As a result, I am kind of turning to the archives for today’s post. It’s from four years back but it holds up because of a great song. some minor editing, and the addition of three Peanuts strips in place of the big bloodshot eye that adorned the original. Each of the three strips ran on this date in their respective years. I think the center one with Lucy and Linus best fits my feeling today.

Just glad to still be here today. And tomorrow, if the lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, as the old saying goes. See you on the other side, in the year 2025.

Sounds kind of science-fiction-y, doesn’t it? I don’t know if that’s good or bad but it doesn’t sound good at first blush. We shall see,

Gosh, I wish Rilke was sending me letters. I always seem to find something in his collected letters that speaks directly to me, something that helps me better understand my own place in the world.

Give me his letters and a Peanuts comic strip and I am all set for perspective and advice on how to live my life.

Rilke’s words above on the New Year speak loudly this year. Let us look at the coming new year as a clean slate, a tabula rasa, that that is filled with new potential. The time ahead may be filled with hard work and stressful times but we should use every available minute of it in attempting to make this new year far better than its predecessor.

I know that these words can sound like empty platitudes but I truly hope they ring true this year and that we don’t waste the gift of time we are given.

Have a happy and quiet New Year’s Eve. Stay safe and perhaps next year at this time, we can truly celebrate the end of a wonderful year.

For those of you who don’t buy into my hopeful look forward and plan on partying your brains out tonight, here’s a song from Wynonie Harris, the great blues shouter who many consider the father of rock and roll. His style and his stage moves, including provocative hip gyrations, were swiped and adapted by Elvis, who some thought was the G-rated version of Wynonie Harris. His stuff really rocks and this song, Don’t Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes at Me, reminds me of the best work of Louis Prima, which is pretty high praise.

So, enjoy and bid goodbye to 2024 tonight in whatever way you see fit. May we do the necessary work so we all have a happy New Year in 2025.