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Happy holidays everyone! I wish you all the best in this
month so full of contradictions. For me Christmas has always been a time of
happiness and family and friends, far and near, whether I’m with them or not.
It is a time when yes, I like to give gifts, but starting with Thanksgiving, it
makes me think about folks I might not have seen for a while and family I miss.
I try to think of all my blessings and enjoy the newness of the season. In the North
Carolina mountains I have found this to be even more true. I have found a deep
love of how the landscape changes with the seasons; looking through the trees
and seeing beyond them feels like I’ve been let in on an ancient secret.
Life has decided that once again, I am not ready to “settle”
down. At the beginning of this year, my husband and I had planned on going to
France to spend time with his parents, be with them before age makes doing
things together more difficult for them. That didn’t happen as we ended up
working full time jobs here in NC. I guess we were a little ahead of ourselves.
Today I bought my ticket to France, leaving in January 2018. Wow. I can’t believe
it. I’ve always wanted to do a “writer’s retreat” and never had the time or
money. Now I have both, and so will go to France and have my own “writer’s
retreat.” I have friends and family who have welcomed me in and I will have a
chance to really write full time again. I don’t feel “joyous” and happy in the “normal”
way. What is happening instead is that my characters, my stories are creeping
in again, letting me know, after a year away from them, that they are still here
and ready to dance with me again. I am so profoundly thankful, happy, and grateful
for this chance to write, to be alone, and to finish what I have started, four
novels, all “finished” yet in various stages of revision. 
When I look through the now bare trees up here in the mountains
and I see those secret vistas that can only be seen at certain times of the
year, I look at my coming change of life/place in the same way. What secrets
will I be allowed to unveil in these coming months and how will they change me?
Where will my stories and I be by the time I’m ready to come home? I will post
again and let you know…
The question for today is: As you look back on 2017, with all it's successes/failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently?
And my answer is: I wouldn't change a thing, especially now! I have learned so very much this year and though I've yet to process all of these new experiences, I feel blessed to have had the chance to do what I've done. And now it feels as though, because I did the right thing, I am now being gifted with a dream coming true. How can I regret anything?
Please go and visit and thank the awesome co-hosts this month for IWSG:
Some images from:
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