Today is supposed to be the real day of new beginnings; back to school and back to work, new presidents and all that. Ghana too gets to have a new president. My friend Brian saw his efforts and those of thousands of others, to get the opposition to rule for awhile, crowned by success. Brian, who was first introduced to me as Brain, hopes to remain in the inner circle of the new administration. I am following things with great interest, partially because I have never had a connection to someone this close to political power. Brian was one of the facilitators of the Ghana leadership program that took off exactly one year ago. Since then we have talked a lot about leadership in Ghana and now he gets to help translate all the talking into action, much like Obama gets to do on this side of the Atlantic.
There is little that feels like new beginnings for me. I am tackling an overflowing email inbox, finishing tasks left incomplete in 2008 and reading stuff I should have read months ago. The weather is cold and grey as if to help and keep me inside. It’s a boring start of the new work year. Instead of preparing for my upcoming trip I get to review other people’s work. Everything about the trip that is supposed to start on Friday is still in the air. It is as if it isn’t on the agenda and no one is expecting that anything needs to be done. Is this all a dream?
Yesterday was one of those days when the urge to create gets so big it bursts. Axel finished his somewhat overdue Christmas card project (no redubbed New Year’s card project) although the cards are not yet in the mail (that’s the management part of creation). I finished my knitting project, started a quilt project, and, not to forget the exercise/learning intentions for 2009, did some dari-rowing. Then Axel suddenly rushed out of the house and returned with a bouquet of anemones with colors so vibrant that I had to find a way to preserve them. I tried to do this in water color but I lost my color mixing touch. Nevertheless, the still life (‘blue vase with anemones’) came out pretty nice given that I had not painted for a long time.
We ended the holidays last night with DJ, Tessa and Steve at a Chinese restaurant, starting with a pooh-pooh platter that should be renamed ‘instant death:’ all sorts of goodies hidden in thick and oily coatings of flour and sugar. I tried to pick the shrimp and chicken out of their greasy jackets but it felt a little naughty, like not being a team player in this caloric super bowl. Of course the food is only an excuse to sit around the table and catch up. Not that there was much catching up to do, given that DJ starts his day reading this blog and thus knows more than Axel does about what’s happening in the Magnuson/Vriesendorp household.
Sylvia's Journal 
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