Walk Along Casco Bay, Jan.

Bay: Pantone PMS 300
Staghorn sumac berries against the water: Pantone PMS 186

Rugged, determined stubs of apple tree twigs make me think of penguins huddled together in winter, or the lone horse standing still in a bleak field peering out only through eyelashes of tight-pressed lids: "I will get through this."

Bright sun.

A cloud of government-check-cigarette smoke from the chain smoker in the wheelchair at the edge of the beach. Baked beans. Diesel fuel, plowing the last edges of the trail. A bufflehead dips into the blue paint.

resolutions

1. To play more games. People keep snickering when I say this. Games bring joy into my life, why should I not want to play more? Cribbage, backgammon, euchre, Shanghai rummy--all good times. Played scrabble on Jan. 3. Need some stiff competition, if anyone wants to lend themselves.

2. To learn to bake homemade bread very well. I got a good start on Jan. 2 making homemade sunflower bagels. They were very good, chewy on the inside, crunchy outside, if a bit on the thin side. Oh, and dropping them in the oven onto the hot coils kinda blew.

3. To get new baking pans that I don't drop.

4. To organize my craft area and use up most of the old stuff.

5. To overcome my songwriting block. The first step is recording what I've already written!