The Rearview Mirror:

What "they" say is so true: things often appear smaller when you are looking at them in the rear view mirror.  What's true on the highway is mostly true in life, it seems to me.

There were things, sad and unhappy and infuriating things, that consumed me for bits of time during 2016. Most of them are now at least, if not quite forgotten, no longer in charge of my energy or my emotions.

The year now gone was one of the busiest we've ever had in terms of experiencing the arts: 9 plays, 7 movies on the big screen, 6 musical concerts, 2 ballet performances, numerous trips to the museum, including one very special exhibit.

There were trips to the zoo, a trip to Huntsville and a day spent at the Space and Rocket Center. We loved attending Biscuits games as a family, TavernFest got attended, and I got to sit on the stage at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as a panelist for Theatre in the Mind. I enjoyed meeting with and/or presenting programs to several literary groups, and have had a ball "doing lunch" more than I've ever done in my life with friends and sisters-in-law. I've watched my husband begin to love what he does for a living again, working back in the heart of town which makes it possible for us to enjoy a much more sane and full life than we've had in years. I said goodbye to a job that defined and delighted me for nearly three decades, and hello to a new career that excites me and inspires me.

Alabama won a(nother) National Championship, had an(other) undefeated season, won a(nother) SEC Championship Title, and yesterday a(nother) trip to a(nother) National Championship Game.

I read a little less than usual, but read some outstanding books, the best of which you should read, too. You'll find my whole list here.

And on Christmas Day my granddaughter and I sat down and played our first duet together, so there was that.

All of that stuff makes having had a raccoon in the attic, suffering yet another slow-to-heal injury from a fall, the death of our sweet cat Big Louie, having a dust-up with a major retailer, watching all the new cracks in the walls form because of the drought, and being on the losing end of a burglary to end the year with a bang, seem like so much background noise. And while for many reasons 2017 fills me with a sense of trepidation, I am yet to be stripped of optimism. There never has been a new year entered that held any assurances or guarantees or best-laid plans that wouldn't go awry, after all.

An acquaintance stopped me at the grocery yesterday afternoon to commiserate with me about the burglary, and what I said to her I'll say to you: Yes, the bad stuff stinks, but I can't do yesterday again. I can only do today, and today is good.

Moving ahead with your eyes on the rear view is a good way to make a wreck of what lies ahead.

Full speed ahead! Bring it on, 2017; I'm ready.