New Year's Greetings

It seemed almost fitting that, ninety minutes into the new year of 2012, I needed to replace the toilet paper. This was not a standard changing of the rolls, either, but a full-fledged effort to open the new thirty-roll pack that we purchased at Target on Thursday. For a minute, I imagined the possibilities that awaited this new roll of bath tissue. Sure, most likely every sheet of paper on that roll would meet the same ignominious, albeit utile, fate, but possibilities awaited. Perhaps some squares might be used to heroically stanch a nosebleed. Perhaps a celebrity might drop by and need to blot their lipstick (and before you scoff at that possibility, just remember that Ann Heche stumbled into a farmhouse about forty miles west of here eleven years ago).

It was surprising the number of things I had to replenish on January 1st. We were completely out of Bounce dryer sheets, so I had to open a new box. Liquid dish soap -- empty. So, I uncapped a new bottle of Palmolive (love the green apple scent). It got me thinking about the meaning of New Year's Day. It's not a blank slate -- too much carries over from last year. It's not a day of renewal -- nothing is different except the calendar. But perhaps it should be seen as a time of replenishment, of restocking ones life with the things that are running low. So whether it's re-establishing communications with neglected friends or family members, recommitting to that lifestyle change or rededicating to that job search, now is the time.

Yeah, I know. This year will probably be just as crummy, just as good, or just as nondescript as last year. But, you know, maybe some starlet will need to blot her lipstick at your house. Have a nice, replenishing New Year.