January, faithful and worthy friend! Once again I have forgot to greet and pay you respect; preoccupied with tending my garden, polishing my buttons and feverishly rewriting my letters of recommendation. No it wasn´t you I so eagerly waited for a day ago. No, I wanted it all, all at once, in all it´s richness and splendor; the New Year!
And before I woke up to its first day, you must silently and without notice, have opened a door and left the vicinity. Then, opening my window, with last night´s expectations now pounding like echoes back and forth in my head, the preciousness of your work once again laid plain to me.

The intensity of the light blinded me. When my ability to see gradually returned, the beauty of the landscape struck me dumb. With care and humbleness you had shrouded the old year in white. But when I saw that green tiny spot of grass, an attitude of lowness suddenly come over me; see, a mistake had been done! Almost imperceptible though, it slid into a deep and thorough shame as it, once again, stood clear to me:
January, our eternal and trustworthy friend! When we with laughter and grand speech present our hopes and wishes for the New Year, you the undertaker of the old, in a seemingly inconceivable way are also the midwife of the new grass. As it calmly breathe the newborn´s sleep, gently and with care, you swaddle it in your warm and protecting clothes.