‘We are on the precipice of change. The New Year, 2016, awaits us with hope for better times, prosperity, and comfort. We want a change from the worries and strife we faced this year and yet, if we are honest with ourselves, most of us have it pretty good. It is all in our perspective.
I could sit here and complain. I could talk about ills and aches and lack of funds, but that would “be a drag” as we used to say in my youth. Which brings me to this gem that Bob was singing early this morning…
Get up and Go by Pete Seeger
“Old age is golden so I’ve heard said
But sometimes I wonder as I crawl into bed
With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
As sleep dims my vision I say to myself:
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
But though nations are warring and business is vexed
I’ll stick around to see what happens next.
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get up and go has got up and went
But in spite of it all I’m able to grin
And think of the places my get up has been.
When I was young my slippers were red,
I could kick up my heels right over my head.
When I was older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night thru.
Now I am older my slippers are black,
I huff to the store and I puff my way back.
But never you laugh; I don’t mind at all,
I’d rather be huffing than not puff at all.
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get up and go has got up and went
But in spite of it all I’m able to grin
And think of the places my get up has been.
I get up each morning and dust off my wits
Open the paper and read the obits
If I’m not there I know I’m not dead
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.”
If I think on it, my get up and go has been to so many amazing places and as I muse about the future I’m pretty sure there’s so much more . . .
“So in spite of it all I’m able to grin!”
~*~
I have no resolutions. My knees are so much better and I am planing a garden again this year, because I miss all that summer goodness stored away in my pantry for winter.
What are you looking for in the new year?
~*~
NOTE: I found an interesting tidbit this morning on the poem Get up and Go at Poets.Net. Apparently it was originally written by Anonymous. Isn’t that the case? Most of the really good stuff is penned by Anonymous. I think I should like to meet this Anonymous someday. 😉
So without further commentary the link to Get up and Go at Poets.net is HERE
Life on the Farmlet 
Happy New Year, dear Lynda! I’m looking forward to Not needing a hip replacement yet, to finishing things I’ve started, to accepting my limitations and cultivating contentment! My best to you both, and may the Farmlet flourish forever.
Thank you! I love your practical view on the new year, Kate, and I am certain you will accomplish your goals in 2016. 🙂
As for the Farmlet, I have let it lay nearly fallow for two years because of my knees. It is time to whip it into shape! Ok, but in stages so I don’t end up blowing out my other knee. 😯
I love this song, but you are not this old yet I think? c
Celi, we surely are not, but Hooeeeee we are certainly feeling over the past year! That aside, we love the sentiments too. 😀
Thank you, I like that one. Thanks for sharing it. I sign my charity quilts as a gift from A. Nony Moose, do you think we are related? Happy New Year!
“A Nony Moose” Darling! Anita, I would say the chances are good! 😉
Happy New Year to you too!
A good looking pantry. At least you won’t starve in 2016.
Thank you, Tom. I wish you a full pantry for 2016. 🙂
We are thinking of marmalade.
I didn’t know this was a poem. I’ve never heard the whole thing, but I often heard bits and pieces from it from my grandparents and my mother: especially, “my get up and go has got up and went.” And grandma and grandpa always checked the obits to make sure they still were with us!
What am I looking for in the New Year? There are things I want to accomplish, but this isn’t a year for resolutions, or grand plans. I’m lucky enough to be healthy, and I have plenty of work, so I guess I’ll just get to it.
Happy New Year to you all — two legged and four.
You hit the nail on the head, Linda! A job and our health are worthy of our full attention in this economy. They say it is getting better, but OH BABY is it taking it’s time shuffling it’s feet to our doorsteps. (collectively speaking)
Lol, Happy New Year to you all, Lynda and thank you so much for this; my Grandmother used to sing this all the time! As a matter of fact, I could pretty much echo everything ShoreAcres’ Linda wrote (Hi Linda!; )
Although my GranMa’s been gone for many years, I still think of her often – especiallly when I hear certain phrases (she had a million of ’em; ) but, up until just this second, I’d no idea where this bit had come from… It’s a priceless gift you’ve given me here; to still be learning from [and about] my GranMa all these years later. I’d no idea she was a Pete Seiger fan… Priceless!!
Deb, I love it when this happens also. I found my grandmother’s old diary in a box years after her death and WOW! What an eye opener… I loved it, almost felt guilty, but enjoyed the knowledge immensely.
I’m sure she’d have been tickled that you got to find out who she was (before you met her; )
She may have, but what I want to know is what was in those 4 pages she ripped out so long ago!!! 😉
As a teenager first learning to play the guitar the only guitar song book I had was Pete Seeger’s book. “Get Up and Go” was the first song I learned and the first song I ever sang in public with my guitar. This brings back a lot of memories! Pete was an avowed communist so I got in a lot of trouble with adults back then if I mentioned his name. The 50s and 60s were tumultuous times!
They certainly were! I remember seeing the McCarthy inquisition films on TV and again later in school. Scary times! I recently read that he gave it all up by about ’46. I love his banjo bits. 🙂
Maybe Bob was singing this song because of that songbook we had!
It may be so, but I think it was this line that had him singing that morning:
“I huff to the store and I puff my way back…I’d rather be huffing than not puff at all.”
I’m glad that he is able to keep his sense of humor! He’s feeling much better and his color has come back with all the new meds which means his lung capacity is obviously improving, but he still gets way too tired. Poor baby.
May your 2016 be wonderful and may your garden fill your pantry. 🙂
I haven’t made any resolutions either, but I’m determined to try to keep my focus this year on the things that make my life peaceful and happy, not the things that bring stress and worry. We’ll see how it goes. 🙂
Thank you, what a nice blessing!
Bill, wouldn’t it be wonderful to dump stress and worry onto the ash heap and have a bonfire for the new year? I imagine it would warm us all the way through til spring!