And here we are again. The tree in the living room is getting crispy and I'm back at the office. It's the fourth day of Christmas, coming up on the fifth night of Hanukah I think, and three days to go before we say goodnight to 2016.
The general sentiment of folks on the internet seems to be good riddance on that score. Truth to tell, I'm more worried about what the new year will bring us this time around. I feel my patented brand of optimism slipping.
Christmas brought a robot invasion to my house. There's a robot vacuum cleaner that now lives under a cupboard in the kitchen. (I named it Kreacher, as it'll spend most its time cleaning up after Master Weasley, and it pleases me to imagine that it's a little disgruntled about it.) There is also a smart thermostat mounted to the wall now that senses when we're in house and adjusts accordingly. Between the two, we're rapidly approaching a level of household automation that speaks of a Ray Bradbury story. Mind the lions.
I don't really go in for New Year's resolutions. It seems like one of the best ways to make sure you don't follow through, somehow. However, I have been thinking about how to make myself of more use to the planet I'm standing on and the people I'm standing next to. I joined a group talking about race relations in my community. I'm testing out some groups working on climate change issues in a variety of ways. These aren't major things, but I'm feeling like just donating money isn't enough anymore. When we turn the corner and head into 2017 in a few days, we're going to be facing inauguration day. I'm resolving to be out of the house, away from a TV, and volunteering somewhere in some useful capacity on that day. I know I won't be able to stomach Washington; best to focus on Woodland, I think.
And so here we are at the end of 2016. A couple of days to go.