Welcome 2010!

Well, here we are, another year…..another decade!….put to bed.

Trolling the web for inspiration, there are many sites that offer pithy quotes to inspire reflection. The ones I like most have a cynical chuckle in their telling:

Every New Year is the direct descendant, isn’t it, of a long line of proven criminals.
~Ogden Nash

That one seemed particularly apt for a genealogy blog. But, isn’t that the real truth? We are, after all, the sum of what we’ve said and done. Not what we meant to do, but what we really did.

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can always rely on a New Englander for practical advice, no nonsense, cut to the chase. I have no use for resolutions on New Year’s Day. They just seem doomed to failure from the outset. Taking life one day at a time is a small enough chunk to be manageable. I can’t set goals for the year….who knows what will happen? But I can look to this day.

In the end, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s cockeyed optimist, and fellow carrot-top, Anne Shirley said it best:

Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?

Happy New Year everyone!