Chores as ritual, rituals as chore

Writing the date in numerals separated by slashes, not dashes: 1/1/11

Drinking strong coffee and herb bread, reading the Sunday Style section. Remembering that whatever happens on New Year's Day, unlike Vegas, doesn't stay on New Year's Day but penetrates, permeates, replicates, indicates, and echoes throughout the year, so take note of your actions.

Changing to the 2011 refill in my old weekly planner; recommitting to pen and paper, knowing I'm not ready to organize my life on a hand-held computer, thus admitting that I am old school, a throwback, an anachronism.

Chronicling the salient facts, not for reference later, just for the sake of intentionally writing them down. Making a list of verbs attached to objects both direct and indirect; entertaining a fantasy of expanding it into a blog entry, a short story, a novella, an epic; settling for a journal entry.

Taking out the trash; recycling paper, glass, metal, and plastic; sweeping the floor of the kitchen and den; shovelling ashes from the stove; doing laundry; watering indoor plants. Cleaning up borders between beds in the garden; sweeping the patio, raking away debris, moving rocks upsteam or downstream, redistributing leaves and bark as needed.

Ignoring TV and football until a midafternoon dream turns nightmarish in Big Ten matchups with Southeastern and Big 12 teams. Michigan ouch, Michigan State ouch. Penn State not so bad, Northwestern not so bad, Wisconsin not so good.

Eating a peasant supper of sour kraut and pork.

Playing the three-penny opera of changes: After encountering comes gathering in union, bringing people together, assembling with a common purpose at the ancestral temple with somewhere to go, repairing weapons to guard against the unexpected. After marrying comes abundance with no additional room for growth, as the sun at midday begins declining with the time to be treasured and enjoyed.