Here we are, at the brand-new beginning of another spin around the sun, new calendars posted on our bulletin boards, and a whole new (or old-but-recommitted-to) set of resolutions.

Some of us are creatures of habit. Always park in the same spot. Take the same route to (and from) work. Get up and have breakfast, coffee and do the New York Times crossword every morning. Walk the same 2.5-mile loop around the forest preserve.

Welcome to our new Guide to Waterparks & Splash Play Areas. If you're a long-time reader, you know that we try to visit aquatics-related stories in nearly every issue of Recreation Management, while featuring a closeup look at swimming pools and their operations, programming, management and more in our annual Guide to Aquatic Centers.

As human animals, there are things we need to live our healthiest lives. The right amount of sleep. A healthy variety of foods. Movement. Time outside. Quality time spent with others.

I am in the midst of what will be my best year in the garden ever. Even if everything got wiped out by a storm or a swarm tomorrow, this still will be a more productive year than any I've ever had. A more beautiful year. A more fruitful year. The abundance of flowers and vegetables at this moment makes every bit of sweaty work worth it.

Recreation, sports and fitness facilities present unique challenges to the folks who run them every day. Some of those challenges are minor and relatively simple to fix, while others are big problems that require big investments.

Following up on our State of the Industry Report, we offer the results culled from a survey of more than 1,700 professionals in the recreation, sports and fitness industry, who discussed everything from salaries to job satisfaction.

When I was a kid, we made a yearly trip from Illinois to Alabama to visit my grandparents and other extended family members. And every year we took that trip, at some point, we would marvel over the ability of kudzu to cover… whatever it wanted to cover. Now, if you've no experience with kudzu, let me tell you a bit about it.

Life has its little-and big-ups and downs. But if you're a professional who owns, operates or manages recreation, sports and fitness facilities, and you're looking at the larger picture, things have mostly been looking up for the past five years or so.

More than 1,700 professionals responded to our call for information about their facilities, budgets, construction plans, operations, programming, staffing and more. Here, we summarize their responses.