I remember thinking at the beginning of the year that 2016 would be different, and for a while it seemed like it was. I don’t have any of the same hopes and softness for 2017. We expected the past year to be kind and hoped for tenderness, but it was anything but tender.

So instead of hoping in vain for a cosmic improvement to descend upon us in the next cycle of the earth around the sun, I’ll say to 2017, bring what you’ve got, and if it’s not what I need, I’ll take some time to fight for it.

Reed McLean, Norway