The Sound of Silence
the last week of December is so peaceful
Ho-Ho-Ho or Ha-Ha-Ha depending on how you’re feeling!
This is the week that I take as down-time. I had my big open house party - wherein I open my home to people who haven’t other plans on Christmas Day. This year about 30 people showed up throughout the day and we all had a great time trying to see what we had in common. Some fun threads were people whose ancestry is Persia, people who have lived in Ann Arbor, people who are great cooks, people who relocated to another country to live, and of course, writers!!
I’m currently in Vermont at my annual New Year’s respite where I eat a ton of food, catch up with 65 of my closest friends and play a lot of board games! You haven’t seen “a lot” of board games until you watch this short video of most of the board games in the house (many more were brought as more people arrived, but this was the selection on day one):
Yes - all of these have been played- though not all of them this year. And not all of them by me.
Board games are great - they are like meditation, in that if they are challenging enough, they clear your mind of other worries or sadness or fears, and you just concentrate on the task at hand. Increasingly, newer games are cooperative, which adds to the fun as everyone is working together to achieve a common goal.
It’s a pleasure to win, but it is also not a bad thing to learn to lose with grace - and to jump right in to another game as soon as you’ve refilled your glass and grabbed another handful of snacks.
Life lessons from a lifelong player….
Writing News:
COMING SOON!
My next reading is on January 7th in Queens - Richard Jeffrey Newman runs a terrific series called First Tuesdays at the Espresso 77 Cafe in Jackson Heights. There’s an open mic that starts around 7:00 PM—signup is at 6:30—and I expect to go on around 8:00 and read from A FLASH OF DARKNESS and other things for 20-25 minutes.
You are welcome to attend this and you are also welcome to attend this reading at the Lithuanian-American Club in their pretty little art gallery:
Random Final Thought:
Seen in Keane, NH:
To have 65 friends is such a blessing. Happy new year and wishing you a great 2025.
Wishing you a joyful New Year- full of adventures & creativity-