path: a photo challenge

Thursday – December 29, 2016. Counting today, there are three more days in 2016. Then a new year, of sorts. Last year, I had three hundred sixty-six to count, the coming year brings three hundred sixty-five. For educators, like myself, the year is defined by the school calendar mid-August to June or early May with a break in June, July and early August. Which means new year marks the beginning of second half and new birth of sorts for my eighth graders.

Christmas dessert – B’s homemade old-fashioned creampie

At the moment, I am on winter break – Day 7. I wish I could report I had accomplished more than catching up on sleep, but I can’t. I prepared an amazing Christmas Dinner – roasted bone-in prime rib, au gratin potatoes, and Brussel sprouts with bacon. Ivy got the bones. B made the old-fashioned cream pie for dessert.

Today marks the beginning of a new path – thank you notes, cleaning off my office desk, a workout (this would be three days in a row), and maybe some school work –  maybe.

We had snow in early December, the first Sunday of the month. The storm left several inches of snow covering the ground. A week later, we had another storm blanketing the area with a fresh layer if snow. The following week, we had bitter cold and last weekend we had rain and the most of the snow melted. The Monday after Christmas, I was outside raking leaves from the deck and cleaning up the yard a bit. Except for a few patches where the sun doesn’t shine, the snow is gone, it’s history. This afternoon’s forecast calls for a dusting of snow, but at the moment it is clear and sunny – a bonus for this time of the year.

Same path, different days….

2016 is almost done, three more days. It’s been a bumpy year for more reasons than I can count, but it’s also been a great year, too. On balance, it’s counted and next week, I fly south for a few days to visit my step-mom in northern Mississippi. A different path all together, then school resumes.

this morning’s view from the kitchen table – no snow in sight only a bright sunny day

Ferris Bueller said it best,

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I might miss the path, or I could find another – regardless it’s a path and I’ll keep making the days count. Today is gonna be a great day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, keeping my eyes on the path but my hands firmly on the wheel.

What is on your path?

Today’s post is inspired by this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Path. For this photo challenge, show us what path means to you. Consider the journey you’ve taken this year (or where you hope to go in 2017) and share a snapshot of this personal path, whether figurative or literal. A path can look like the one in the photo above, but it can also be a glimpse into your interests and passions or personal and professional goals. We look forward to seeing the various paths you take!

NOTE: I stopped to take the pat photos – there was no one behind me, when I stopped. And I went back in time to a post from 2012 to get the Ferris Bueller quote, is it Wednesday? and another time all together. I am glad I stopped to look around.

5 thoughts on “path: a photo challenge

  1. Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, how the days keep rollin’. December is gone and I don’t remember it starting.

    I hope you have a great new year and if you have some extra time while you’re in Northern Mississippi – swing south a little and I’ll treat you to lunch, or dinner, or just a brief chat in our parlor.

    Take care. Happy new year!!

    Patricia Rickrode
    w/a Jansen Schmidt

    1. Challenging is good. The end of 2016 is dribbling to a close and I am feeling some positive vibes. I took the first photo – the snowy one on the way home from church at the beginning of the month. It was planned for a post that died and never was….. sometimes that happens, especially during the school year. Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year full of good wishes. Peace.

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