Off and running! We have a new year and we now can put so much stuff into the bin of needing to be forgotten.

There was the almost-in-the-playoffs Seattle Mariners. It seems like the baseball team just needs one more thing to get into the post season and be successful. Joining them are the Seahawks, who did not make the playoffs but did have a winning season, by about three inches. The most loyal and naïve of us think they might someday join the winning teams of yesteryear, but that is a stretch. Of course, the Wabash College Little Giants are in this group with their double overtime loss in the Monon Bell Classic to the DePauw Tigers, but they did come pretty close to being in the Division III football playoffs. Yeah, you UW Husky fans could care less. Off to the Big 10 with you.

Can we put the political foolishness in that bin? Probably not. We will probably be stuck with the lies and acrimony surrounding two old guys and their sycophants as they dominate the headlines for the next year or more. Spare me, please. In case you have not noticed, the best business to be in currently is deadly weapons. There are weapons to kill folks in the neighboring country and in the neighborhood school, plus every place in between. Business is booming.

And, who would have thought a swimming pool and a golf course would be such notable topics in the local news this past year? At least the new sewer system in Port Hadlock didn’t smell up the news as much in 2023. Personally, I am happy to leave behind my recovery from a hip replacement in 2022 and a back operation in 2023.

So, let’s get on with it. Do we even have a chance going forward? Will we get in better physical shape? Will we ever win at poker again? (I have come to view my poker losses as contributions to those who need it not.) Will we be kinder to those around us without whining that they aren’t being very kind to us? Will there be “world peace?” Yeah, the eternal optimist in me says that some of it will happen.

Going forward into 2024, without any empirical evidence, I sense that the average age in Port Ludlow is going down. Credit the pandemic and the ability of workers to discover they can work from home in Port Ludlow instead of traffic-infested Seattle.

Port Ludlow’s “Dine and Discover” program is slowly coming back as it generates  camaraderie in the community with interesting programs and pot-luck delicacies. The program February 5 is being presented by Cynthia Daily, director of the Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue. Plus, residents are looking forward to potential new eating options in the village with rumors of a pizza parlor and a hamburger joint opening sometime in our lifetimes.

Let’s try to get the smelly stuff of 2023 gone and get some new, more fragrant stuff into our lives in 2024 — and I don’t just mean winning a couple of poker games. We need to try a little harder. We might be old, but we had great hair, listened to cool music, and drove the best cars. Maybe we can bring at least some of the music back.

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week.

ned@ptleader.com