Dreaming of A New Year and New Opportunities

A new year is upon us and with its arrival is the promise of another opportunity.

Perhaps it’s the practice of making resolutions, or the celebrations of ringing out the old and ringing in the new. I always see Jan. 1 as a new chance to do things more effectively.

So, let’s see what can I do?

The house, it needs to be kept cleaner, I can do that, let’s get started, vacuum hose in hand, dust cloth in back pocket, Pledge in the other back pocket. I need a bucket, full of water, with ammonia for the floors. OK that’s all ready, what else, where’s that extension to clean the dust off the fans? There it is. OK I need some Comet to clean the bathrooms, and a sponge.

Great, I am ready now, cleaner house here we come, but before I get started, its about lunch time, let me make a sandwich.

That’s another area I can improve. I should eat healthier – more leafy greens, and drink more water. OK lettuce on the sandwich… what else can I put on it? There is nothing else in here. I need to go shopping.

I need to more efficiently stock my kitchen. O.K. Let’s make a list. I will open all the cupboards and see what is missing. Peanut butter, I need that, soup is always good. What about spaghetti? What’s wrong with this pen?

Now I have to find a pen. There are none here so, into the office. I’ll check by the phone. I don’t know why, pens are never there when I need one.

Right, no pens. Look at this office, files everywhere. Look at that, I sat that file there last year and haven’t touched it. I really need to get organized in my office.

No better time to start than the present. We will start with this file on that mystery book, I want to finish. Hmm. I better take a look at this before I file it.

That’s a good story. Why haven’t I finished it? That’s it, that’s what’s needed, a twist to take us in a new direction. Let me just get this typed in the computer before I forget it.

I’ll get this new book finished in no time at all.

Boy, I am getting hungry. What did I do with that lettuce sandwich? Kitchen. I was hunting a pen. Here’s one.

Will you look at this mess, all these cleaning things in the middle of the floor. Look at the kitchen, cabinets open, refrigerator door open. It looks like I have been robbed.

I have got to get this place cleaned up, close the doors, the fridge. Now let’s get the cleaning stuff back where it goes.

Now, doesn’t everything look better? There is nothing like making things neater to give a new year prospective. I am still hungry, where’s that lettuce sandwich? Here it is. Look here’s a coupon on pizza delivery. That’s a great deal. Where did I put the phone?


Randall Franks is best known for his role as “Officer Randy Goode” on TV’s “In the Heat of the Night” now on WGN America. His latest 2019 # 1 CD release, “Americana Youth of Southern Appalachia,” is by the Share America Foundation. He is a member of the Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame. His latest book is “A Badge or an Old Guitar: A Music City Murder Mystery.” He is a syndicated columnist for randallfranks.com/ and can be reached at rfrankscatoosa@gmail.com.