It's a Gulag Out There, Charlie Brown!

[Stephanie's Window]

Outside for three days in a row, the gray winter pall that hangs over this valley lifted off and we have had blue skies and sunshine, which lift the spirits, but bring very frigid temperatures. No snow yet, but frost so thick that it looks like a light layer of snow. My wolf dog is relishing the coldness. I am too, but comfortably indoors, in fleece lounging pajamas.

I am waiting till the celebrations start, around the world, hoping the far side of the world begins early enough for me to catch some of the displays before inevitably I am too tired and have to totter off to bed.

It is the last day of this year, which has been a hard year in many ways. But was a year which also brought me this wonderful world of blogging, of belonging to a fantastically talented and creative community of poets, something my life here sadly lacked till I found all of you.

To each one of you who has visited my blog and left kind and encouraging comments, and to each one of you whom I have visited and will continue to visit in the new year, I want to express my profound gratitude at how you helped  to reawaken my writing life, which had been hibernating, and for stimulating me with your voices, your amazing writing, and the back and forth give and take which just means the world to a writer, without which I stagnate. Each one of you has re-energized and breathed new life into my writing - and my life - and "thank you" is not big enough for what this means to me.

I look forward to some great writing - and some great reading - from all of us in the new year.

Wishing you all good things in 2011. You made 2010 a watershed year for me:)