Slight Detour: As the Calendar Turns

Standing water in our French drain has frozen, creating a lovely palette of reflection in front of the house.

Some flowers thrive the year around without much nurturing.

🌱🌷🌸🌹

Another year is almost completed, and during the past couple of weeks, I've seen and heard lots of laments regarding the past 12 months.

Glad it's almost over, some have said.

When I reflect on 2025, there is much sadness, more than enough madness, frustration and disappointment.

I have yelled epithets at the TV a lot, I have sighed many times wishing my gut problems would just stop and I have shed more tears than usual when more than the usual friends have passed on.

But for the most part, all of the above have been offset with an abundance of joy.

It's not the calendar's fault that bad things happen and that we deal with loss, frustration, challenges, madness and disappointment.

That kind of stuff happens every year, every month, every week and pretty much every day.

Happily, though, sprinkled in between or even alongside are endless moments of ecstasy, thrill, excitement, fun and total awe.

It's the blend of life which unfolds with every breath and virtually every step we take, whether it's 1999 or 2025.

We don't know in this late December 2025 what the blend holds for us for 2026, but as one year ends and another begins, we know that all of the above will happen and the upcoming changing of the calendars gives us a sense of hope for better times.

I love the idea below and thought it was definitely worth sharing.

I have visited my horses twice this week and am thrilled that they seem happy to see me.

It could be the treats in my pocket, but that's okay.

Yesterday I took CB to the barn for some brushing, combing and clipping.

He seemed to enjoy every moment.

It's a rotational thing with the three of them. Lefty will be next and finally Miss Lily.

More time to work with the horses has at last become possible now that the Christmas hubbub has ended.

This is the third year I've boarded them at Roxane's, here in the neighborhood, and it has created a lovely new dimension for winter days.

It's a good get-out-of-the-house activity and often a social event when other horse owners are there to work with their beloveds.

The change has helped make the winter months move by much faster.

My friend and former student Jeff Bock had a pretty good seat at last night's Gonzaga-Pepperdine game in Malibu.

It's always fun to have a correspondent at the game who can get some shots that we don't usually see on TV.

Which brings to mind that lots of fans did not see any of the game on TV.

Even though the DISH guide said the game would be on Fox 28 and even though it continued at game time to list the current programming as Gonzaga-Pepperdine, there was not basketball to be seen.

Within seconds of tip-off time and when some sit com replaced the game, social media came alive with frustrated fans wanting to know where they could view the game.

My sister Laurie found a link and sent it to me. I sent the link other friends and posted it on the Facebook Gonzaga promo.

So, many fans had to watch the game on their computers or their phones.

ZAGS followers are beginning to groan because our winter entertainment is getting harder and harder to access, and there's often a certain amount of mystery in the effort.

I saw a note online yesterday that avid football fans would have to pay for about eight or nine streaming services to see all their games on the weekend.

In short, broadcast sports is not as much fun as it used to be.

All this said, thanks, Jeff, for the photos.