No Resolutions in 2026
This year, 2025, was about recovery for me.1 I escaped the city and moved into a peaceful place in the suburbs. From the outside, it probably looks like I didn’t get out much, but I really needed the rest. I’m feeling much better now. My nerves have nearly recuperated.
It’s nice here. There is no traffic outside my front door. I go months without hearing the blare of a car horn. No one poops on my steps—well, except for the birds. The ground isn’t littered with orange caps, hypodermic needles, and dying drug addicts. I haven’t seen so much as a single anyone nodding out in a fentanyl stupor since I moved here. There are no banshees howling profanities all through the night. No street takeovers. No riots. No helicopters. No gunshots. It’s great.
While my new town is quiet, it’s still quite lively. There is usually something or other going on in the little downtown area. Packs of children cycle around the neighborhood all afternoon. They leave their bikes strewn about front lawns for safekeeping overnight. A band practices down the street. Church bells ring out from the corner every hour on the hour until evening, when they give it a rest. There are nearby parks in all directions, with rivers and lakes. Wildlife abounds, albeit of the less exotic variety: countless turtles, even more birds, and there are squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, deer, foxes, the odd beaver, and once I even met a skunk! And there are wasps. Plenty of wasps in summer. If you like those.
My new space felt gigantic when I first moved in, especially compared to the 670-square-foot apartment I’d been living in for years, but a person will quickly expand to fill any space, I suppose. I spent a not-so-small fortune filling it up with stuff, too. There’s furniture, dishes, flatware, gadgets to maintain the environment, tools to maintain the front and backyards, camera kit for nature photography instead of street photography, and I even fitted out a grubby little art studio in the basement. It’s pretty great. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to blowing a lot of dough on totally frivolous creature comforts, too; I have a brand new from the factory 6-disc carousel CD changer—in 2026!2
As we head into this new year, I have no resolutions, but a few themes that I’ll be focusing on. Now that I own everything, I want to buckle down and focus on saving lots of money. I’m thinking of maybe buying a house. Possibly in the middle of nowhere. And I’m going to prioritize creating some good fitness and health habits. I’m getting old fast and need to tighten up. Other than that, I’m just thinking of using the internet less, working on art more, reading books, and taking guitar lessons. I’m not at all resolved to any of these activities, but I intend to lean into them.
Happy New Year!