goodbye twenty thirteen...

...i totally just woke up and sang that to the tune of 'goodbye yellow brick road' by elton john.. and then i remembered that i got to see elton john in the crazy mashup of epic awesomeness that this year has been.. yeah. but it's time to say goodbye... which seems to be a very long drawn out process. this year, on top of everything, has really messed with my perception of time. first it's flying by, and then dead stop. rewind, repeat.

now i suppose it's fitting that the tune goes so well along with the words of bidding the year farewell, because twenty thirteen sort of feels like my 'yellow brick road'. the dude that wrote that song was depicting the idea of leaving the life of fame and fortune to get back to his roots, to go back to the farm. that's sort of how i feel about this year.. experiencing bits of the high life here and there, traveling more than i conventionally would while living as a commoner. saying goodbye to this year and all that happened in it is my way of saying it's time to go home. back to my dirt and shovel..

when i was a kid i always loved going to my dad's house. he lived in what was then regarded as the 'middle of nowhere' in a log cabin on the edge of some trees, decades before urban sprawl caught up with it. there were lots of gardens and orchards around the yard, and one of my most favourite chores was gathering brush to burn in the firepit out back. i loved planting season, and the satisfaction one would gain from weeding a bed, i loved everything about it.

until i was a pre-teen of course, and i'd gone to stay there a while. no pre-teen in the country who knows what the city is like wants to stay out in the country. i was one of those kids. i felt my life was so disconnected, and i wanted ever so badly to stay in town. i knew not what i was getting myself into or about the hardships and challenges that lied within that lifestyle. i did know that going back to stay with my addict mother was going to be a challenge in itself, but one well worth it to get away from the country. i wanted to be where the people were, the people that didn't hate on me for being a city girl to begin with. i've always been torn between my two sets of roots. i suppose that's why i ultimaltely chose the lifestyle that i did, my happy medium.

and now here we are. the end of one year and the beginning of another. the idea of wanting to 'make it big' and change the world has faded back into the background where it belongs. i'm not a big fancy corporate leader, i'm a simple farmer. and if ever the day comes that my wanting to get back to my roots enables me to advance in society, or in my 'corporate career' then so be it. i could only pray that that would be the change.. that others might be encouraged to follow.

next year i'll likely be doing considerably less traveling, and focusing more energy on the soil outside my back door. all i wanted was that garden, and i let it get out of hand while my head was busy swimming in the clouds. literally, at some points... damn airplanes. i can't believe i rode so many this year, that's certainly a record i don't wish to break any time soon. goodbye twenty thirteen, your bright lights and fancy ideals. you can't keep me from my garden, i'm going back to my trowel.