It's been quite a month (and year). And it's almost over. Finally. As I walked down Lower Thames today doing a few of the inevitable gift returns — if only one could return or exchange imperfect/unwanted experiences in similar fashion — I was thinking about that: how I'm really rather glad to see 2011 slipping into the rear view mirror. Not to say it didn't have highlights. Bright spots. Stars, so to speak. A few. A good number, if I think about it hard enough. And I guess that's the essential issue at hand, i.e., it's all about what sorts of spots, bright or otherwise, one chooses to focus upon in defining any given year, season or day ...
