American Elephants

Is starting a new year a big deal, or simply turning over the calendar? I have never been particularly fascinated with New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day or the change of the calendar. I guess I think of time as a continuum rather than a collection of individual days. Can’t remember attending a New Year’s Eve party and never regarded the start of a new year on the calendar as important.

Lots of events in a year that are special, family birthdays, noted holidays, but the beginning of a new calendar is not among them. Some months contain special holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, that sort of thing, Breaking out a new calendar means a new picture on the kitchen wall, but I have never found a “New” year a particularly big deal. Which seems to put me at odds with the rest of the country. Calendars stretch back into my ancestors histories, and forward into the unknown, but it happens every year, whether one is prepared or not. And we have no idea just what we need to be prepared for.We have hopes, but….

The sky in this Seattle suburb is a palest blue, lots of vague clouds that would probably portray a pretty blue sky if they would just go away. Not particularly promising. But then I have no promising plans for the day in any case. This is the time of year when you think you ought to take down the tree, but it’s still so pretty, you’re reluctant. I suspect that there are folks out there who are anxious to get on with it and move right on the new year and whatever it has to offer.

I’m retired, so there is not the urgency to get back to work. Family got “crock-pots”, more correctly called “slow-cookers” which are marvelous for soups and stews, that sort of thing. Now I have to copy off recipes for my grandmother’s famous potato soup, and other heritage dishes for the new crock pots.

It’s 4:23 in the afternoon, and already starting to get dark. (That seems awfully early!) I don’t adapt well to short days, and cloudy skies don’t help. First day of a brand new year. We remember the particularly bad years, but I’m not sure we remember the good ones. We have no idea what’s coming. Hoped-for eventualities don’t happen, and there are always unpleasant surprises. Who expected Covid? We’ve been vaccinated, but don’t know yet how much protection that offers. Measles is going around, and we still have to get our flu shots this week. Can’t remember if having measles makes you immune or if you can get it again. I can definitely remember having it.

4:47 and dark out. An unpleasant disease, and itchy!