Janice Marturano

Did you know that Minnesota has one of the highest concentrations of eagles in the country? A couple of years ago, I had a chance to visit the National Eagle Center, just south of Red Wing.

It is so easy at this time of year to feel overwhelmed. We work extra hours to bring our organizations to a satisfactory end of the year, to get things cleared away before 2012 appears, and with the often mistaken belief that getting a list of extra things done will allow us to have a more restful holiday. That belief would be more true if there were not an endless list of things that can keep our mind busy thinking about work .

And we have the additional errands and costs associated with entertaining, gift-giving and shopping. Add to those things the pressures of cooking and cleaning and decorating, not to mention the internal chatter of our minds that often arises from the gift selection process for parents, children and friends, and it is easy to find ourselves dropping into bed at the end of the day feeling totally exhausted. And we might conclude that "this is just how it is right now," hoping that someday it might be simpler. Someday when the kids are older or the business is less hectic or we have more money or...