In the past, and ever since we have been together, Jan and I decided that New Years' eves were some of the most dangerous times to be on the road. People, many of them amateurs (young people with little experience on how drinking impairs their senses) are on the road going from party to party, and rushing to get somewhere; too risky. So, we always stayed at home and, many times already in out pajamas, broke the seal of the ceremonial New Year champagne, and toasted each other and our families to a prosperous and healthy new year. This year we broke our mold by going to a New Years party outside our neighborhood... Bill and Ginny Loos, dear friends who now live in Sparta, TN and who were close neighbors whom we never met in Florida, had a party at their house and we decided to go. Alex, Leah, Jan, Pat Ross (a neighbor) and I got there at about 8:30 PM; mingled, drank a little, ate more than a little, and then at about 10:30 PM we decided to sound retreat and head back to the mountains... Got home, got into our pajamas and played a game of Mexican Train while waiting for the New Year, Central Time. Nashville had a snafu with their dropping icon, and CNN had another snafu with the connection and at 12:02 AM we realized we were already in another year. The four of us hugged each other, did not drink the bubbly, and went to bed.
On New Year's day, I spoke to Ligia, my sister, and all her clan is well. I also got a text from my oldest daughter, Clarissa, wishing me a Happy New year; returned the text with likewise wishes. Finally, I took some time to reflected a bit on the fact that my mother would have been 83 years old on New Year's day, had she still been around... She's been gone for 441 days and I still miss her...
Alex left for Gainesville on Monday the 2nd, and after reporting in from every previously established checkpoint, she made it home safely. That same day Tom and Char Merriman came to visit and to stay with us for a night. Played Mexican Train; ate, drank and had a great time with them. On the 3rd, we drove around the neighborhood, and saw that the Rocky River Vista beautiful log house had burned to the ground... What a waste!
The Merrimans left on Tuesday, at about noon time, and then yesterday we spent most of the day un-decorating the house, a somewhat unpleasant task when compared with the decorating part of it earlier in the season...
Leah is still with us until Saturday.
I hope you all had a wonderful year-end and an even better year-start... I also hope you made resolutions that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound).
Miguel.
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