Carry On As Usual

Congratulations to all my fellow Earthlings: we're still here! Unless today takes a turn for the worse, the world did not end in 2012 after all. Instead, tomorrow will bring another day ripe with potential and fraught with leftover angst. It will also usher in a brand new year we'll call 2013. What this means in actual facts is hardly anything, but it's likely a big deal to those folks over at Times Square who are lining up already to watch tonight's nutty proceedings. Which reminds me of one of my father's best worst jokes, which he dragged out of storage each year when people asked him what he was planning for the big night. His standard reply: "Nothing much--we're just staying home and watching the ball drop in my pajamas." (I still love that.) As for me, I will hang up a new kitchen calendar. I will also, as I do on most days, begin that new diet--you know, the one I'll stick to.

Mitch and I are not going to any parties or doing anything out of the ordinary tonight. Okay, I'm boring, at least on New Year's Eve. This stems from my childhood when, with my parents out partying, my grandparents schlepped me and my sister to Times Square--on the subway from Queens, mind you--to witness, if not join, the revelry. A couple of times I actually had fun, but usually it was just terrifying. According to my grandfather attendance was mandatory, just "to see all the humanity." Before night's end we stopped at the Automat for one of those chocolate-covered cupcakes with sprinkles, so it wasn't all bad.

Now, from the safety of my home in rural Maine, I wish all my family, friends and loyal blog readers a Happy New Year, which when you stop to think about it is kind of a tall order. Can't we just aim for a Happy New Year's Day, or maybe a Happy New Week? That seems more reasonable.