Welcome New Year’s 2024

I'm bringing out a new line of sculptures for 2024. This new line will be lighter weight and easier for me (and you) to move and transport. They're called the “Mick Digger” line (after Mick Jagger) and will include females as well as males, and children. I have plenty of shovel parts and saw blades, so why not? At about 5' tall and 35 lbs., “Mick Digger” has proved most popular on social media, receiving more “likes” than all of my other sculptures combined, proving (to me) that “art” should entertain first, rather than inspire. You may dispute this.

I was just about ready to give up welding and building sculptures because it was too hard on my 75-year old back. It seemed the harder I tried to build lighter weight sculptures, the heavier they got. Previous to “Mick Digger” there was “Orion's Orchid” that was a back breaker to make and move. I had to use the forks on the tractor. “Orion's Orchid” is unique and sort of pretty and awe inspiring, but rather impractical as far as yard art goes. I don't mind keeping it, but windy days are hard on “Orion's Orchid.” And the wind usually blows on the Empty Nest Farm.

So you can see that in addition to writing, I'm also into making sculptures out of junk. It's all about art. One of my resolutions for 2024 is to spend more time pursuing my passions: reading, writing and welding (the three R's?). I'm not getting any younger, and if I can put a smile on someone's face, it also puts one on mine.

Ginnie and I usually start out the new year by eating pork and cabbage on New Year's Day. It's supposed to bring good luck for the new year. Most people eat corned beef and cabbage, but for us, it's pork and cabbage. An old boy once told me that if he ate pork and cabbage on New Year's Day, the year would be prosperous. I've found it to be true. I found Ginnie, didn't I?

I also like to spend New Year's Day doing the things I plan to do throughout the year. I've found that if I make a point of exercising on New Year's Day, I will exercise throughout the year. If I eat in moderation on New Year's Day, something I've not been known for, I will eat in moderation throughout the year. If I'm nice to Ginnie on New Year's Day, I will be nice to her all year long. Not that being nice to Ginnie is a chore, but I tend to put myself first. If I put Ginnie first, things seem to go a lot better.

Stormy, our tomcat, came to us on New Year's Day, two years ago. It was snowing hard and I was installing a new wireless door bell on the front door. Ginnie had given me the doorbell for Christmas. We very seldom use the front door. I heard a mewing in the swirling snow. There was a little, gray-tiger kitten, huddled in the corner of the porch. I coaxed him to me, grabbed him up, and he clawed and bit the bejeebers out of my hand. But I held tight and brought him indoors to warm up. He's been with us ever since. He's now overweight and thinks he owns the place.

As I write this at 2 a.m. in the morning, he knocked over Ginnie's reading lamp. His name, Stormy, is apropos. Two more things: that scratching and biting he did on my hand, bonded us. Stormy may be my Muse. And much to Ginnie's chagrin, Stormy is MY cat. He cuddles on my lap, and sleeps on my dirty clothes. Ginnie, he mostly ignores, even though she is the one who feeds and gives him treats. He knows I rescued him, and for that he is grateful, at least as grateful as a cat can be.

Be grateful in the new year. There are humanitarian crises on our borders, in Ukraine and Gaza. So many people are homeless, confused and need help. We are the fortunate ones. Follow your passions, and listen to the eternal, whispering voice.

Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com, or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com

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