In this annual euphoria that is once more upon us, I am merely wondering...
- what will I be smoking tonight before 2015 tolls?
- where will I find myself when leaving our current year?
- when precisely will I light - or finish - my last 2014 cigar - or pipe?
It has been a wonderful year.
I notice clearly that I have grown - within and in bond to many others around me and from a distance.
Many plans show clear signs of coming to fruition and they promise much for the coming 365 days and beyond.
Many old dreams turned into plans and became reality - I was in Tokyo.
In Tokyo, after twenty-five years of cigar smoking, in mind and palate I smoked the very best cigar of my life. In Tokyo I finally met one of my coffee heroes - Ichiro Sekiguchi. There I also finally witnessed my first Noh Play at the National Noh Theater.
My steps towards sitting on stages again are being taken and I will soon sit in them, with and without Pianos.
And it has been an emotional year, in which some wonderful individuals that moved us deeply have touched us once more by departing. Especially deeply I remember Paco de Lucía, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams and Joe Cocker, but others will be touched by the passing of other greats like Mickey Rooney, Joan Rivers, Maya Angelou, Don Zimmer, Chespirito...