December 14: Twined Away, Very Cold Walk, Hot Chocolate

Here we go again!

I fingered the winterkilled grass, looping it round the tip of my finger like hair, ruffling its tips with my palms.  Another year has twined away, unrolled and dropped across nowhere like a flung banner painted in gibberish . . .

Yes, the year 2016 is quickly twining away, as Dillard says.  In about a week, it's Christmas.  In another week, New Year's Eve.  I don't know how it happened.  And, of course, my year is ending a little crazily with this whole Poet Laureate of the U. P. business.  It seems like that's all that I've been focused on.  Getting people to vote.  Showing people how to vote.  Vote, vote, vote.

Tomorrow evening, at the Carnegie Library in my home town of Ishpeming, I will be giving a poetry reading.  Now, this event was scheduled long before I became a nominee.  It's just happy circumstance that both dovetailed so nicely.  I will be reading some Christmas poems.  My bandmates will be playing some Christmas/winter songs.  And there will be food to eat.  Sounds like a perfect night to me.

I don't want to give 2016 the bum's rush out the door.  However, I will be glad when this whole voting thing is over and life can return to normal.  Whatever normal is.  I don't know.  Next year will have its share of challenges.  Money issues.  Parents' health issues.  Snow issues.  Car issues.  House issues.  You name it, and I've got an issue with it.

This afternoon, I went for a very cold walk with a couple of my best friends.  We trooped down to the cemetery where my sister's cremation stone is.  All of us have been thinking about her quite a bit recently, and, yesterday, we decided that she wanted us to visit her.  So, that's what we did today.

The wind was blowing, and the wind chill was about 20 below.  But, we walked the half mile and had some hot chocolate by my sister's stone.  We took a selfie, brushed the snow and ice away so that my sister's name was visible.  Then, we walked back.  No tears.  No sadness.  We laughed and complained about the cold.  That's it.

That little hot chocolate moment will be one of my memories of 2016, along with the Poet Laureate thing, the new car thing, the daughter starting to drive thing, the university promotion thing.

You know, Saint Marty has a lot of things to be grateful for.

Please vote for me (Martin Achatz):

Voting for Poet Laureate of the U. P.