it’s a new year’s eve tradition
the famous wheel of cheese is back
much to everyone’s delight
let the celebration begin
happy new year
—
‘if I tell you there’s cheese on the moon, bring the crackers.’
-tyronn lue
how many bubbles are in a glass of champagne?
—
french researcher, gerard liger-belair
has spent more than 15 years studying the drink
and has released his best guess:
2,000,000.
that is science, trial and error, trying until you get it right.
in support of his very thorough study,
I may be conducting my own research this evening.
—
“champagne…it gives you the impression that every day is sunday.”
– marlene detrich
—
credits: veuve cliquot vintage ad, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bbc
I saw
a tiny tricycle
decorated in garlands and sparkles
parked in the bike rack at the library
heard the train come through town
softly whistling the tune of jingle bells
watched the people line up
to catch the bus to the airport
taking them somewhere
where people were waiting to see them
turned to say hello
to the man walking his dog
in his Christmas pajamas
spent the day with family and friends
playing and laughing
simply enjoying the celebration
happy Christmas everyone.
—
“our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at christmas-time.”
– laura ingalls wilder
(not me, a reenactor, but we do have similar pj’s and hair)
—
many moons ago
when i lived a very busy life
single-mother, college, 2 jobs
I had family and friends over
to celebrate my daughter’s graduation.
the day started early
somehow everything came together
the party went well
my divorced parents got along
none of the food burnt
the cake turned out
everyone was pretty happy.
as the day wound down
there were just a couple of guests left
who wanted to stay to watch
the very end of a championship basketball game
we expected it would wrap up very quickly.
what are the odds
it broke records and went into triple overtime?
at a certain point
I could no longer stay awake
and tried the usual methods to end the day
yawning, cleaning up, sighing, talking about tomorrow
finally it was so bad
that I put my pajamas on and laid down on the floor
the game continued
the guests continued
at last there was a win and we said our goodbyes.
the next day,
I woke up went to work,
went to my class,
went to my other job
where my friend thanked me for a nice party.
I went on and on about how exhausted I was
due in part to these late guests
who just did not get the hint
that I needed to sleep
no matter what I said or did.
she nodded sympathetically
as I dramatically reenacted the entire end of the night
she listened quietly
until I finally had it out of my system and was done
and then she said,
“beth, that was us.”
epilogue:
we still are good friends and continue to laugh about it all these years later.
I am still not a good late-nighter and have a foggy memory.
—
“the guest who outstays his fellow guests loses his overcoat.”
~ chinese proverb
—
image credit: littlejayz/huffington post
fancy dinner and sleepover celebration with friends
our plan.
not exactly sure what it was
but it seemed to make perfect sense at the time.
after a day spent
amidst the love and celebration
of a beautiful wedding
the night is waiting.
—
“before the first before and after the last after, there is night waiting.”
― d
—
cape neddick, maine – august 2019
on the night before
the Barcelona – Napoli soccer match
takes place in the stadium
the streets close to cars
and open
only to people
who celebrate
with food and drinks
and especially music
as martha reeves
belts it out
under the stars
for the happy crowd.
—
‘i will always dance in the street.’
-martha reeves
feliz cinco de mayo.
—
“mexico is a mosaic of different realities and beauties.”
-enrique pena nieto
—
artist credit: eli halpin
