Everyday Canvas

New Year’s Eve

Prompt: What do you wish you were doing New Year’s Eve? Going to New York to watch the ball drop at Midnight or go to a party where everyone dresses up fancy? What do you do on New Year’s Eve?

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I never wanted to watch the ball drop from the street in New York. I wouldn’t go for it for a million dollars. If you had listened to the TV this time, you’d hear that the people went there in the morning, like eight to ten o’clock sometime, and waited to hold their place, without even going to the bathroom. Astronaut diapers, or what? With me, this just isn’t happening…ever!

I would, however, not mind watching it from one of Marriott Marquis’s street-facing rooms. If any one of you ever wants to do that, start now. Make the reservations for 2016’s New Year’s Eve, and take into account that you may have to pay a half-year’s salary. With me, this is another no-go, as much as I love New York. If I ever throw money around, it will probably be to build a library or something.

When I was young, our family and friends got together in our or in one of my uncles’ homes. We ate fruits, usually citrus, bananas, and nuts, and played board games with coins. As children, we played the hardest because of the loot, and some adults let us win.

Later on, after I was married, we went to parties, mostly large ones with people from work and friends. It used to be a lot of fun with a bar and a hired barman, champagne and food for every table, nice clothes, and dancing.

Nowadays, in old age, we just stay home, watch a movie, and the TV when it is time to see the ball drop, and drink wine and some fancy food I cook up. We used to have some people over, too, but most of those have either passed away or moved to other states. So it is just us. We don’t go out at night, as it is difficult to drive and we also fear other drivers with booze in their systems. Very close to us, across the golf course, in Club Med, they light up fireworks every New Year’s Eve, but this year we only heard them, since we had already closed the curtains and blinds and the wine made us too lazy to get up and open them again.

Some of the New Year’s traditions worldwide have something to do with kissing at midnight, wearing colored underwear, eating black-eyed peas and/or twelve grapes, and wearing something with polka dots. Among our traditions are to listen to Viennese polkas and Auld Lang Syne "The love and kindness of days gone by.” The rest, we just wing it.

Wishing you much success and happiness in all you do, and many, many blog entries in the New Year.

Happy 2015, Blog City!