In our neck of the woods the new year starts off with good news. A football championship, the lowest murder rate in years and a last-minute agreement to avert the fiscal cliff.

More to the point for a walker: No snow or ice on the ground and a lighter, balmier feel to the air this morning.

Before I amble out the door, a look back at the blog: 308 posts on everything from autumn to Africa to the retirement of my late, great flip phone. (Every year my family composes a funny “out” and “in” list — a shameless rip-off of a Washington Post “Style Section” tradition — and one of the 2012 items is “OUT: The flip phone Mom never answers” and “IN: The smartphone Mom never answers.”)

 Which is to say that some things never change. Not exactly what one wants to be reminded of on this day of resolutions (more on those later). But worth a thought or two just the same.

Happy 2013!