The New Year!

The new year is here, and here is the month filled with ambition and resolutions. Its kind of a tough month too where all the holiday decorations are taken down and put away, and all the colors and shiny lights that lit up the night are gone, and the nights seem even darker. Spring is too far off to start thinking about...just seems like a long dreary month...or is it?

As much as I've grown to dislike the winter for the most part, there are those nights with some redeeming qualities. Don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer to sweat than shiver any day of the week, but there is something very cool (no pun intended) about a snowfall with those big, puffy, soft snowflakes that land softly and pile up quickly. The night is illuminated by everything being white. I've had some of the best runs going out on a night like this when the snowflakes are floating down, things are so quiet, the white snow so clean. It is so peaceful hearing the snow crunching lightly under my shoes. I guess there are some things to look forward to in January afterall.

I have a cousin who has been bravely fighting lung cancer. His spirit, attitude, and outlook are awe-inspiring to say the least. I can only hope to have a fraction of the courage he has displayed. January brings the last part of a pretty tough and aggressive treatment plan that he has gone through in an amazing fashion. We are all keeping positive thoughts and prayers for victory over this horrible enemy called cancer. Something else to look forward to in January...