January 1 provides an opportunity to reflect on the past year and to look ahead to the new one. The year 2016 had its share of negatives. That included the loss of close friend Brian Bonner and my wife’s beloved cousin Bob Witherow as well as the tragic murder-suicide mentioned in my December 18 post. There were physical challenges aplenty. A few days ago, the dizzy spells mentioned in my last post sent me to Riverside Methodist Hospital for an MRI. The tentative diagnosis is Meniere’s disease, a malady that will require daily medication and a low-sodium diet. Added to this mix were family pressures brought on by my wife’s difficulty with some of her law partners and my stepson’s break-up with his girlfriend. Of course, there were pluses, too: the birth of my grandson Nathan Welsh, publication of the print version of my novel, and the excellent creative writing course I took at Otterbein.

The new year may be better than the old one. It will bring a 12-week visit from my Indonesia-dwelling daughter and her family starting in early May and the wedding of my stepdaughter Sarah near the end of that month. Trips to Philadelphia, Seattle, and Austin, Texas are also in the offing. Work on my second Young Adult novel, The Bullybuster, will continue, and my goal is to have it in the hands of my publisher before December 31. If my body holds out, I intend to complete the 100-mile route of the Pelotonia bicycle ride against cancer in August.

I will also maintain this blog, making a post on the first and third Sunday of each month. Family and literary topics will continue to be covered. However, at least some of my blogs will address social and political subjects. I am not going to take hard-line positions on controversial issues. Neither will I be making assessments of how well the new President and other high-profile officeholders are doing their jobs. What I will be doing is discussing – and perhaps seeking some consensus – on broader and less-partisan issues such as the Electoral College, the lack of civility in society, and the power of definitions.

I am making this change in my blog because of my belief that civil discourse in this country is seriously lacking. People find it far too easy to hurl insults and assume the worst about each other rather than engage in persuasion. In the name of fighting hate, people become haters themselves. A wise man (perhaps Gandhi) once said “be the change you want to see in the world.” With that advice in mind, I will move my blog in a new direction.