Gott Nytt År!

Happy New Year! 2008 promises to be one of turbid fascinations and opaque dreams. At least right now it seems so. Hopefully things will clear up soon and the darkness will be lifted. The red tipped, white cane is swishing through the air madly hoping to make contact with something. Even when it does hit, the sound reverberating through the thin rod into your bones is a cacophony of unanswered questions poised to crack any semblance of sanity.

While this may sound bleak to some of you, even myself at times, it is not so. The adage, "the world is your oyster" holds true. Just tell me where that damn pearl is. I feel like an oyster diver, knife in teeth, breath on hold, warm waters bubbling and swirling past as the sea pressure mounts. Any of you that has looked for a job recently might know the feeling, or maybe I'm taking myself too seriously. I do wonder now, if I can find an oyster diving job on naturejobs.com.

Apparently these types of jobs aren't advertised here or this type of job has great benefits with no one interested in retiring. If you happen to be an oyster diver and are reading this blog, email me with your benefits package.

On a slightly different note, who forgot to tell Rowan the new year is here and his resolution should be to sleep in? Damn, I'm beginning to sound like a cantankerous old man. I think I could do that job as well. Grumpy old pearl diver with fantastic job benefits. Where do I sign?

The past year has been one of triumph and tribulation (T&T). Anyone with a two year old could describe their year in the same way. Where to begin? I'm afraid I can barely remember the past month, let alone the past year but here goes. I think the T&T began in Spring. We were preparing for months of visitors and our own trips to Italy and Germany. It was a frenzied time with our vacations and visitors. It was great to get away and to see everyone. Yasmiene went to Ireland and Estonia, the family to Norway, Italy, and Germany. We enjoyed friends, family, fjords, ice cream, bonfires, swimming, trains, buses, airplanes, ferries, sunlight, taxis, biking, boats, wheelchairs, museums, fountains, sausages, beer, wine, pasta, pizza, salmon, sunlight, apartments, hiking, ice cream, hellanistic art, hanseatic league houses, maypoles, paintings, sunlight, and ice cream. It was during this time Saniya learned to swim by herself with arm floats and ride her bicycle without training wheels.

As the summer ended we were reminded of the beauty of fall and the changing colors, light, temperature, and muddy feet. Observing the changes while walking or biking through Hagaparken and Norra begravnigsplatsen were wonderful.

Now the trees lie bare, their blanket of leaves damp and cold. It snowed briefly yesterday, but it did not stick. They were huge white flakes. The kind your tongue longs to taste. As I look outside the snow is falling in earnest this time. Maybe we'll go sledding later today.

As I look back over the past year I realize I don't need to dive for oysters anymore. I've found my pearls. Yasmiene, Saniya, and Rowan, I love you.

Rob