“I Am Running into a New Year” by Lucille Clifton
i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what i said to myself
about myself
when i was sixteen and
twenty-six and thirty-six
even forty-six but
i am running into a new year
and i beg what i love and
i leave to forgive me
Friends, today is my birthday. It’s an occasion I like to think of as a rebirth, a chance to ponder changes for my new year ahead.
Truth be told, I play at these “fresh starts” often (which probably says something not so flattering about my follow-through). The rentree with its bustle after the slow summer vacation is usually that kind of time. My birthday, too. New Year and then Chinese New Year about a month or so later (I never quite manage to have made good on my January 1 resolutions.)
But this post is to share that a major change has indeed come to pass, and it may come as a shock.
Friends, I left Paris. At least for a little while.
I gave notice on my apartment, gave most of my stuff away. I returned to the town I grew up in, where I haven’t lived in nearly 20 years.
Whoa, whoa, WHAT? you may be saying.
I know. It’s a lot.
When last I wrote you, a move wasn’t even in the mix. But things changed quickly and I hopped on the ride.
Birthday Time (and the best gift from you)
Published November 4, 2014 Stuff About Sion 20 CommentsTags: birthday, comments, dance, la poste, love, pampering, paris, simplicity
My feet in Dieppe on my first birthday in France (the rest of me is there, too)
Happy midterm elections, USA!
Ahem. Yeah. Doesn’t the world feel in such a sorry state these days?
You’ll forgive me if I’m focused more on the personal than the political today. Because…it’s BIRTHDAY TIME! Woot!
If I look a little dazed here, it’s because I am. I’d only been in France for a month and a half at this point. Ah, so many years ahead of you, sweetcake! A lot is going to happen.
I received a package from my mom last week with 3 wrapped presents and tried waiting to open them until today. (I’m like an impatient kid in this respect and could only last until the weekend before succumbing to my curiosity and peeking early).
Besides the thrill of gifts (thank you, mom!), this marks a triumph, too. It was the first package that has arrived safely from my mom IN YEARS.
Dipping way back in the archives, I once declared La Poste my number one nemesis. So many packages had gone missing (and I heard from a chorus of readers who experienced the same thing), that it seemed someone was sneaking away with the goods. And so I sacrificed the comfort of care packages from home forever (sniff!)
A 2014 portrait by Richard Beban.
My mom would heroically try again from time to time to no avail, but this time, holy miracle! It arrived. Let’s take this as a great sign for the year ahead.
I thought to do a little pampering for my birthday (France has taught me the value of self-care), but part of what I wanted was not to get bogged down planning anything.
So oops! Couldn’t get an appointment today for my little treats. That’s ok: I now have a salon appointment on Friday for a hair cut and a massage on Saturday. I’m more than happy to stretch the birthday out all week.
I’ll be seeing my beau soon, then have a little fete with my writing workshop tomorrow.
With any luck, I might even run into some colorful festivity such as this forró flashmob in Paris.
A simple celebration and I couldn’t be happier.
(Oh, actually I could! I love receiving your comments. Thank you for reading – it’s the best gift ever).
Update: wow, package from my dad just now arrived, too. 3 delivered packages from the post in a week? Amazing!
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