New Years Eve

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Lord Tennyson

Another year is coming to an end, and like all previous years, there were the good moments and the not so good ones. To me, this day is an in-between time is a time for quiet reflection.  After months of planning, the Christmas holiday is over, and now it is time to sit quietly for awhile and reflect on what has happened to me throughout the year.  It does not mean that I sit and ruminate on what I did not accomplish in the last year. Rather, this reflection allows me to assess where I have been and where I want to go. Each year offers us an opportunity to build on what we have already accomplished.  

I do not do resolutions.  I decided a few years ago that I did not want to do that anymore.  I believe they open one up for failure.  For example, it was just the other day when I was looking for something in the closet that I came across my Resolution book which I began in 1982.  Each year I religiously sat on New Year's Eve and made my entries.  Amazingly, it was the same promises to myself  every year...

I will stop smoking.

I will lose weight.

I will eat healthier.

Yet here I am, 28 years later, still not eating healthier and 60 pounds heavier.  I did manage to quit smoking, but not because of any resolution.  I quit smoking because I couldn't make it up the subway stairs.

Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves
they believe are negative.  A majority of people revert back to how
they were before and feel like failures.  This year I challenge you
to a new resolution.  I challenge you to just be yourself.

--Aisha Elderwyn--

And, as always, I tend to get nostalgic or melancholy at this time of year.  I not only reflect on my  memories of my loved ones, but dream about the year ahead.  For me, the New Year is a time of remembrance and a time of hope...a time of forgiveness and a time of chance. The New Year offers me a  chance to revive and grow.

New Year's Eve is like every
other night; there is no pause
in the march of the universe,
no breathless moment of
silence among created things
that the passage of another
twelve months may be noted;
and yet no person has quite
the same thoughts this evening
as those that come with the
coming of darkness on other nights.

--Hamilton Wright Mabie--

(Before I close, I wanted to update you all on what's been going on here. Lots of finger pointing, that's for sure. This morning I heard on the news that because of impending layoffs and demotions of sanitation workers, supervisors advised workers to slow down or ignore certain neighborhoods. These neighborhoods, including Boro Park where I live, are supposedly upper class neighborhoods with a lot of political clout. Although I would not call my neighborhood upper class, I do have to admit that the residents here have the most political clout in the entire city. Problem is, it backfired. Instead of standing on the side of the workers, residents are now demanding investigation and possible criminal charges. People have died because help couldn't reach them.
 

Of course, we have the denials. Oh no, we would never put the people in jeopardy. I say that is a bunch of bull. Fact is, I have lived here twelve years in January and have been through many snowstorms. I remember in previous years not being able to sleep because the plows were continuously coming through...even when there was no snow left on the ground. This year, they came through once at night and once in the morning. Side streets were not done at all. The side street across from my home was only plowed sometime yesterday...days after the storm.
 

And garbage pickup. I've had no pickup since December 21st. Bags are littering the streets. It's now becoming a health hazard. I'm going to try not to let all this spoil my night, but it's not easy. We are truly a disaster zone here.)