2010 planner

I have bought my planner for next year. I have downsized over the years from the leather-bound, 6-ring binders to the week-at-a-glance style. The one I will be using for next year came from Walgreen's, and I paid $1 for it. It is pale green and is begging for decoration.
2010 has many important dates to remember, and I have already noted many of them on the blank pages.
But where did 2009 go?
Now I know why my Mother and my Grandmother kept their calendars from years past because as the years speed past, a concrete, tangible accounting of where some of it went certainly helps.

In Nanny's calendar entries, she made notes about things of importance to her. She kept a record of money spent on gas, groceries, rent she paid for Pop's garage, rent paid to her for the apartment behind the house. She noted visiting her sisters, letters and pictures from Lucille, attendance at church, who was in the hospital, the weather and what was blooming. Hunting and stews made from ducks, squirrels or deers they killed at "the camp."

Ordinary happenings that were the accounting of her days.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary when we are present to note what is important and how we spend our days.