reflecting on the year and the years

On January 1, 2010, we stopped at a store in Reno, NV (on our way back from watching the Reno fireworks (my first) from the hills the night before) and bought me some cowboy boots. These are my first pair of leathery Western cowboy boots, and they are sturdy and beautiful. They go against my European upbringing and are such alien accessories on my feet. Yet they are a perfect mix of the girly heel-and-pointy-toe and the masculine look, and I pretty much love them.

It's interesting though, how I adapt to the cultures around me. I'd never thought I'd be wearing cowboy boots, but here I am, living on the West Coast, exploring the territories, soaking in the whole western atmosphere. I love horses, I love animals and wildlife, I love open spaces and blending in with nature. I think I'd make a good cowgirl. It's funny to think that just a couple of years ago, I sported the Vera Bradley and petticoat fashion of coastal Connecticut, a short train ride from NYC. These adaptations aren't all that bad though. In fact, they excite me. I'm a perpetual explorer, and I love that I get to and have gotten to experience this much of the world already. So seeing my flowery purse from CT hanging next to my cowboy boots from NV and next to some hand-painted wooden earrings from Russia puts a smile on my face. I hope this next year will continue to allow me to explore our world.

I kind of can't believe that we are starting the second decade of this second millennium (AD) already. Time flies when you are... a human being living pretty mundane days one after another. No, but actually, my husband and I met in 2002, which is just a few years into the first decade of the century, and now we'll be starting the second one together. I guess that's pretty neat, and about as close as I'll ever get to mushy.

And in terms of resolutions, I personally find them kind of trite. I mean, I'm already constantly trying to be the best... whatever... I can be. I may fail often, yes, but it doesn't make sense not to always try. Maybe I just don't work well with nagging goals floating around in the back of my head? I mean, I am going along a certain path toward some endpoint, working hard, making the best of it, and other than that, I take life as it comes. Now this previous sentence also seems kind of trite, but it's also kind of true. Maybe it's that I work on myself every day and little-by-little, rather than with sweeping once-a-year resolutions? I've also never made a Bucket List.

How did I get from talking about shoes to kicking the bucket? This always seems to happen to me.