’Tis the Night Before Next Year
Fire works are going off outside — or Ft. Bragg is blowing something up
It must be human nature to celebrate things like birthdays and New Year, because, let’s face it, tomorrow is just another day. I don’t expect to wake up tomorrow morning to a whole new world. Not that I wouldn’t like to. I’d like to wake up to peace and harmony, everyone healthy and wealthy, no more divisions between us based on gender, color, religion, or idiocy. But I’m not holding my breath.
The morning of my 70th birthday, I looked just like I did when I was 69. I didn’t ache any where new, just the usual places, and I was still able to do three laps around my big back yard. I made the same stupid noises when I sat down or stood up as I did the day before. I don’t remember when those noises started coming out of my mouth; I only noticed when I heard my husband at the time making exactly the same ones.
At least tomorrow is Saturday. We won’t have to face politics or the plague again until Monday. I wish the turning of the page on a calendar made a big difference.
I always take the old calendar down and go month by month writing down the birthdays and highlighting the special days in the new one. As I turn the old year’s pages, I used to see a review of all the places I’d gone, the parties I’d attended, the doctors’ appointments I’d had, the picnics I’d gone to, the beginnings and endings of semesters, and dates my grades were due in.
The last couple of years, it’s just mostly doctors’ appointments. Life has shrunk. I’d like to see next year’s calendar fill up with outings and fun things. I think we all need some good news for a change. I think we all feel like we deserve it. Unfortunately, destiny doesn’t care what we want. While we hope and plan, the gods laugh. What will be, will be.
And on that happy note, let’s all pray for a real change in this fresh, new year, even if it is just another day. If we all pray really hard, maybe we can change things. At least it won’t do any harm.
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A shout out to all the writers who write about how wonderful life can be in the Dancing Elephant Press and other platforms. Let’s look up, not get bogged down.