Yesterday was Christmas eve and we spent the day with our family. It was a pretty good day and we had a good time talking about what is going on and what is coming up. As I sit here this morning drinking coffee and watching the sun rise over the frosty field I am thinking a lot about the year that has just passed  and the the year to come. There are so many things I had planned to do last year and as I look back at those plans and what ones are still left undone with just a few days left in the year I am boggled by the question “Where did all the time go?” I don’t think the plans I had for last year were so much that I couldn’t get them dione, and yet I aqm out of time and still have many things left to do. I, like so many of us, have gotten so caught up in the rat race that is our modern life that I have forgotten how to take the time to get back to what is truly important. I spend so much time working and stressing about the political climate, the economy, the all out destruction of everything our founding fathers shed their precious blood to create by the current administration that I forget to take the time to take care of myself.

Some of the things on my list I wanted to accomplish for last year were.

Spend more time fishing: I went fishing maybe 12 times over the spring, and summer. This is not near enough. I spent many weekends sitting at home on the computer that I should have spent fishing.

Take more photographs: I did get out some to take photos, but I have not yet gone out and shot the “My town” documentary phiotos I have been planning for the last year.

Spend more time in the woods: Living where I do in Idaho it is a 20 to 60 minute drive to the mountains depending on where I want to go. I have used the drive time as an excuse too often. Yes gas is expensive and it takes a bit of it to get there, but what is your mental health worth? I am always so much more relaxed and in much better spirits after spending a few ours in the mountains away from the hustle and bustle of the world below and yet I can never seem to get myself to go.

RELAX: The stress from thing going on around me that I have no control over has gotten me wound tighter than Nancy Pelosi’s panties at a gun show and I have forgotten how to relax. I used to not let the things I could not control bother me but lately they have grabbed hold and not let go.

As I look back at these things I can feel the tension rising up my back like some scifi creature crawling up my spine to take control of my brain again. Enough with looking back. I can not change what has already happened so it is time to look forward to 2010.

For the coming year I am going to keep things really simple. I am going to focus on my blogging and photography. I will no longer drive past that beautiful cloud formation or sun rise, or scenic view of a valley thinking what a great picture it would make. I am going to take the time to stop and take the picture. I am going to spend more time reading some of the great photography blogs and trying to improve my abilities.

I have much to be thankful for this holiday season and I want to say to all of my family and friends, “Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for all you have done for me. Thank you for making me a better person. Without you I do not know who I would be but I would not be the man I am today”