forty and fabulous

Iconic things occurred in 1969:  Woodstock, Apollo 11 moon-landing, Sesame Street launched, petrol was $0.37 per gallon (!), Golda Meir became Prime Minister,  PBS was created, Chappaquiddick,  the Concorde's first flight, first ATM installed, the 747 made it's debut flight from Seattle to NYC, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was playing, and the precursor to the internet and personal computers was invented.

An auspicious year to join the planet; the year of the Rooster.  I've posted this poem before, but I love it deeply and it resonates each year, so am reposting it.

I Am Running into a New Year

Lucille Clifton 

i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what i said to myself
about myself
when i was sixteen and
twenty-six and thirty-six
even thirty-six but
i am running into a new year
and i beg what i love and
i leave to forgive me

from Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980

 

So, lift a glass and toast to a new decade.

Who knows what adventures lie ahead?

But the year ahead looks fabulous. 

Not in 1969, but another auspicious event on the 19th of November was the Gettysburg Address in 1863.