Resolutions always have the scent of white paste to me! I remember like it was yesterday, standing in front of the newly unlocked cupboard in the back of the schoolroom, oiled floors wafting their own particular scent, and Mrs. Miller handing out fresh tablets, like God on the first day of Creation! What lofty ambitions I had - how beautifully I would write, how neatly I would cipher (is that even a word anymore in this context?) I must inject I just looked up the word cipher and the second definition is" cipher: do arithmetic (archaic)"!!! Wow, does that make my day!

But back to the fresh, pure tablets. Be they tablets, journals, notebooks - fresh pages conjure up possibility to me. What profound thing might I record for future generations? Now, as opposed to the mere five years old I was when I got my first tablet, I understand that all the "profound" things I wrote over the years, at some point will get dumped when the first big downsizing begins!

But never mind, there is still the blossoming value of process. Any muscle unused gets flabby: the mind is no exception. If you don't believe it, try sitting down and writing a letter to someone. My hand physically cramps, the spelling of words - well, that's downright frightening! This spell check thing is subterfuge!! When I was writing Christmas cards, I had to ponder over words that should have flowed like the Conestoga! My grade school teachers' tongues would be clicking.

Yes, I know it's all part of the aging process, but it's also part of the process of beginning life in a two roomed schoolhouse and closing out my time in Windows 10! Still, the little pig-tailed girl in me stands in awe at being handed a new year, a new tablet of possibilities. I give thanks.