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Soon, each one of us will be taken
By dark powers under this ground
That drove us here, that warped us.
Not one of us got it his own way.
Nothing like any one of us
Will be seen again, forever.
Each of us held some noble shape in mind.
It seemed better that we kept alive.
—W. D. Snodgrass, 1926-2009
p>2009, I won’t miss you much. What a long, hard, greedy year you were.
At least, that’s how it seemed to me these past few months, though I guess that’s just
another construct, personalizing one span of time, the most recent of
so many. Like one year is that different from any other. People die every day, notable or not, andothers getborn.
Struggle, strife, glory and celebration, a continuum. Maybe you gave as good as you took away, 2009.
A toast to all of those gone, to all the newly arrived, and to each of us somewhere in between. And to Athenae and the rest of you, the First Draft family, thanks for making this digital gathering place so warm and bright.
Tell us about your year: what you celebrated, what you lost, what you won’t be sorry to leave behind, what you’ll miss the most, what you’ll remember forever.
Cheers.
Obviously, Weezy was the highlight of the year for me. Thank you for thinking of her, and here’s hoping that 2010 is better foreveryone.
I actually have a few things to celebrate, particularly my generally good health, both physical and economic…the car’s paid for (and only has about 30,000 miles on the odometer), a very close friend of mine got married and is settled in New Orleans (i.e., great company and a place to stay in the city)…I was at least able to sign the contract to “go green” with my house (solar hot water and electric–lousy weather’s delaying the work, alas.)
The Obama administration, for all the criticism, is still light years better than the previous hacks in the Executive Branch…
On the down side: the news media (blogs like First Draft excepted, of course) continues to scale new heights of batshit insanity (Limbaugh, Beck), the overall economy is still a dangerous mess (that said, I’m both personally lucky on that front, as is my local burg…knock on wood)…
2009 was great for me on apersonal level. On a political level it was better than 2008 (which was better than 2007) but not as good as it should have been. Slowly, too slowly, the curve nudges upward…
In between my great-aunt’s murder in January and having to put my cat through cancer treatment in October and November, I had a few pretty good months. Overall, though, between that and coming down with the H1N1 flu on the Thursday before Hallowe’en, and still being incompletely recovered, I’m worn out.
I can’t really say I had much to celebrate this year; I’m more or less just glad I survived. My cat’s bloodwork is doing excellently, at least, even if he is now an emotional basketcase… 🙁
you need spares interrobang.
i have not had the anger aerobics of 1999-2008. tho, republikkklans and DINOs are keeping me peeved. change is coming. georgee is much harder to remove than a grass stain.
hoping 2010 is the death nell for the hard rite.
I teach high school band. Four years ago, I brought marching to this school… 22 kids and I placed dead last in the state of Colorado for 2006. This year, my 77 students qualified for state. 2009 is the year the school’s marching band enrollment was bigger than football and volleyball here.
Combined.
And of course, both of those teams made the playoffs too– all in all, the best fall yet here at Bayfield High School.
Way to go DEREK! This former Band Queer is very spportive of all things marching band. Bravo! I’m sure yr way was not easy.
that does seem to be good derek.
oh just learned of chestnut on NPR and hoped it would help him. tooooo late.
I’m glad to see this year go. Unfortunately, aspects of this year will be with me for some time to come.
’09 ended with me being in the hospital twice, but we did get some work done on our once flooded home.
I’m happy it’s 2010. Of course I’m having a surgery this month. Gonna be a pain in the tush, literally.