Happy New Year!

Well, another year is here – 365 opportunities to smile, to love, to hope, to dream, to make amazing discoveries, and to live. I hope you do something great with the days ahead. There’s much more to life than ballgames and reality shows on the boob tube.

How did you spend New Year’s Eve? At a big party? With a small gathering of friends? Or maybe a quiet evening at home? I spent the day getting my free author’s newsletter sent out to all of my subscribers announcing the release of my new book, Big Lake Parolee. Then Terry and I had a quiet dinner at home, and since we’re not party animals, we did what we do every New Year’s Eve, we stayed home and enjoyed being together.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? If so, what are they? I never do because I have enough failure in my life to deal with without adding self-imposed goals I cannot reach. To quote a line from an old Clint Eastwood movie, “a man has to know his limitations.” And do I ever have limitations!

We’re all starting the year with a clean slate, so forget those niggling little problems you’ve been dwelling on, get rid of that old baggage you’ve been carrying around, and concentrate on the good things in your life. I hope that 2026 holds much love, happiness, and good health for you and yours.

Now go spend time with your family, watch a football game or an old movie, or whatever puts a smile on your face. Because I can’t think of a better way to spend the first day of a new year than spending it with somebody you love.

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is a Camping Journal & RV Travel Logbook donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for campground reviews, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day. Note: We have several of these books, with different covers. The cover displayed may or may not be the one received.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn this evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure.