Happy Winter Solstice!

When it's Darkest Before Dawn

This is the time when most people reflect upon the preceding months of the year. The media features those admirable folks who have passed and we viewers enjoy seeing the checklist of their lives. We think about what we have accomplished in the past twelve months ourselves and what awaits us in the coming new year.

The old man (“2023”) prepares for departure as a baby (“2024”) enters the scene.

How did our year go? Here is a collage conveniently created by Google for Mark and me.

In looking it over, I see that Mark and I struck a fine balance between work and play, if I do say so myself! We traveled to South Africa (top left photo), checking it off our Bucket List and making it the seventh continent we have visited over our 42 years together. We worked on several interesting video production gigs and made room for as much time in Nature as we could. We love riding mountain bikes with our buddies, some of whom we have been riding with for decades.

Here’s a brief peak at one of our favorite rides, Spur Meadow. The soundtrack is a collaboration between myself (I wrote the words) and talented performer, Ezekiel Jay.

One of our biggest accomplishments of the year, and of our lives, is the documentary “Nectarball: The Story of Cannabis.” For more about that, we invite you to check out the website.

If you sign on to the Nectarball Substack newsletter (accessible at the Nectarball site), we’ll send you a private link to view it from today (Winter Solstice) until the first of January 2024.

What I notice when embarking on a conversation about cannabis: some people are open-minded about it, and some are so seriously stigmatized, it’s painful to observe. It brings to mind a quote by the amazing Richard Bach, author of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” “Illusions” and “One,” among other great works. In “Illusions,” he says, “Argue for your limitations and sure enough they’re yours.”

Have a happy season filled with comfort and joy, and a wonderful new year. It’s up to you.