Happy New Year!

Herewith the theft of a missive from my beloved friend Fiona who has once again said it better than I might have done.

January 1, 2026
Toronto, Ontario

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, what a ride 2025 has been and I’m sure that not one of us, no matter where we live on this somewhat wobbly planet of ours, hasn’t vacillated been WTF and OMG! While it is the habit at year-end to look back and tally up the pluses and minuses, and yes, there are always pluses in all our lives despite the world-wide doom and gloom, I have decided to keep my summary to a minimum and concentrate on how we move forward into 2026, the Year of the Horse, according to the Chinese zodiac. What is interesting are the attributes the Chinese assign to this year: energy, freedom, independence and charisma. Obviously, here in Canada ‘independence’ has been top of mind throughout 2025 and in the land of “Elbows Up”, this will remain our focus until things settle down with our neighbour. Certainly, the WTF factor has been an almost daily response to the news cycle, to the point that turning away out of sheer exhaustion has been very tempting. And that’s been part of the strategy of this new cabal of leaders – to flood the zone. Throughout the first half of 2025, I did spend time reacting to, and writing about, my thoughts but come summer, I decided – Give it a rest! That didn’t mean I wasn’t observing what was going on around the world, I just put myself on hold to stop the constant round of bad news relentlessly hammering away at me. On the positive side though, as the year progressed, there were signs of push-back, and while it’s nowhere near enough to fix all the crises, it’s a start which, hopefully, during 2026 will gain more momentum. In fact, I think Robert Arnold, an American writer and poet from the Mississippi Delta, sums it up best:

“2026 is not the year we play it safe. It is the year we stop asking whether change is possible and start acting like it’s necessary. It’s the year we remember that courage is contagious, that solidarity expands, that people who believe in each other are harder to break than any system built on fear. So if you’re tired, good, it means you’re paying attention. If you are angry, even better, as that means your moral compass still works. And if you’re scared, that’s OK too. Welcome to the beginning of something real, because there are moments in history when retreat seems sensible, and those are exactly the moments when staying becomes an act of defiance itself. So we’re not leaving and we’re not turning back.”

For me, I’m still a deep believer in the power of laughter to uplift, to heal and to keep us sane and connected, so I have no intention of being a ‘drama pickle’!! My New Year’s resolution is to keep finding the ‘funny’ and sharing life’s giggles with all of you. And on that note, I’d like to offer up my latest words of advice:

Do not seize the day. That only startles it, and nobody wants to deal with an aggressive day before coffee. Approach it slowly. Avoid eye contact. Maybe offer a polite nod. Act casual. If the day growls, starts making demands or mentions shenanigans, back away quietly and return to bed! (Courtesy of Otter News).

And finally, as you all know, Paul and I now live high in the sky in our wonderful penthouse apartment and even after 2½ years here, we are still in awe of the vistas that unfold around us everyday. A few weeks ago, I took this photo of a spectacular winter sunrise (apologies to any of you to whom I’ve already sent this) and it seems the perfect metaphor as to how I see 2026 unfolding.

Wishing all of you happiness, good health and a warm heart,

With love,

Fiona and her best-ever sidekick, Paul

The Dawning of A New Day

And as Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn once so aptly wrote:

“Keep kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.