In the front of my house, there is a 25 foot privet hedge. Every year or so, the landscapers trim it down to a manageable height--the idea is to keep it healthy. When they're done, the hedge looks like it will never grow again. Its bare and chopped-off branches make it look defeated and dead. It looks hopeless...

I've started to call the past year "The Year of Great Transition." There's been a lot of change. A lot of trimming of this and that--all with the intent of being healthier and growing.

But, as with any transition, there is a resting point between back there and up ahead. I created this piece somewhere in the middle of "all that."