the winter of my accomplishment

 That was a pretty good story about Cheboygan.  Too bad that the Mackinaw was not in port on the day the satellite took that photo.  Oh here's something I forgot.  I traced the Cheboygan river southwards and it appears to drain into/come out of Black Lake (which I might add looks terrific in its satellite photo) and I am wondering what is going on there.  Sometimes a river will expand into a lake but will still drain out at the other end of the lake but I don't see any other river coming out of that lake.

This day next week it will be Christmas eve, and the week after that will be new year's eve, and then it will be the new year.  The new year strikes me as being a lot like the new moon, a whole lot of nothing.  A vast white ocean with minor holiday (MLK, Valentine's day, Groundhog day) and nothing much to do but watch the days ever so slowly get longer.  

Kind of a time to get things done, clean up the house, write that novel, get your shit really together without those pesky vacations and old pals dropping in and spring cleaning, and oh, it's just too nice a day to do anything but sit on the veranda and sip lemonade.

I've been on an organizing my house thing since last week, a couple closets, a bookcase in my bedroom, so much more to go.  Starting out you think that you are going to get rid of so much shit, but then you come across all this stuff that you haven't touched in years but it's still perfectly good, and just deciding what to do takes up so much brain power that you are just happy to know what is where that you just pass it on.  

Do you guys have a slop drawer, where you keep very sentimental stuff, and sometimes stuff just slips in there and you continue to keep it just because you have already kept it so long?  How about this?  I still have my high school diploma.  You know despite those four long years I put in there, no prospective employer has ever asked to see it.

Ok there it is.  As god is my witness this year I will throw out my high school diploma, boom there it is.  Already I am having misgivings, but I will be strong.  Off it goes.  And now when the tender shoots shoot up yellow green I will be able to look upon this winter and feel like I have accomplished something.