NEW YEAR'S TRADITION

Living on a peninsula in Florida Deborah and I have a tradition to which we adhere

On how we usher out the old, and welcome the new year.

New Year’s Eve we drive out to the beach to watch the sunset...and then

We wake up New Year’s morning to watch it rise again.

The sunset is usually very quiet, it’s one of those moments I adore

The only sounds perceptible are waves crashing against the shore.

If we’re lucky the night is clear with a few a clouds dotting the sky

Then soon the heavens are filled with colors as the old year says goodbye.

The sunrise starts in darkness, you don’t want to say a word

As the morning belongs to the ocean and the sound of waking birds.

The horizon begins to brighten even before the sun arrives

Then slowly, like an artist, colors are painted across the sky.

But the last sunset of 2013 did not show up that night

Setting behind a dark grey curtain and well out of our sight.

The next morning the sun once again decided to stay away

Choosing to rise behind the cover of a sky still cloaked in grey.

No we didn’t see the sun set or rise, but in the end we didn’t mind

For the moments were filled with beauty and wonders of another kind.

We searched for shells, wrote in the sand, and walked along the beach

We saw dolphins, and watched pelicans fly just out of our reach.

We realized as we stood there far from the maddening crowds

It matters not if we see the sun or it’s shrouded in the clouds.

What matters is the moment not the climate or the weather

And the fact that, whatever happens, we’re sharing it together.

Overall, rain or shine, this is a tradition we will extend

So we’ll be back same time and place when this year finally ends.

And up again the next morning as the two years overlap

(Now It’s time for another tradition the mid-day New Year’s nap.)

IT'S A NEW YEAR JOHN, IMAGINE THAT

John Lennon wrote Imagine, his biggest hit, back in 1971

It’s a good time to revisit it now that a new year has begin.

As one year ends it’s human nature to look back on the world we see

Then look ahead and try to Imagine the world as we want it to be.

I believe when we look back on 2013, when we take the time to review it

So much of what we got out of the year depends on how we view it.

There are people out there who only see bad in the world and wonder who designed it.

But everyone knows if you go looking for bad...you’re definitely going to find it.

We had natural disasters, people going hungry, social and political unrest

We saw people dying in wars, on our streets and many others oppressed.

But when we concentrate only on the horrors, the wars, the crimes and the crooks,

Then the joys, the triumphs, and the laughter we tend to overlook.

The world I like to Imagine is brimming with balance and symmetry

Where people embrace their differences and live together in harmony.

I Imagine a world no longer filled with hungry girls and boys

Where we look our sorrows in the face and somehow find the joys.

Of course you may say I’m a dreamer, but that’s OK with me

Because as far as I’m concerned, I’m in good company.

In every story of disaster when we wonder how anyone could cope,..

We see people helping people, sharing friendship, giving hope.

For every story of prejudice and bigotry, amidst the sadness and despairing

We find stories of acceptance, respect and love and caring.

For ever robbery, every crime, every time one person’s cheated

Somewhere in the world a random act of kindness is completed.

For every divorce in this world, every relationship transformed

A new love is created or a marriage is performed.

For every death that sends ripples of sorrow out across the Earth

There are ripples of joy that emanate from a newborn baby’s birth.

Fore every country fighting wars, for every bomb they may release

There are people coming together in the name of unity and peace.

Of course I hope the sadness and misfortune decline in the coming year

But that won’t stop me from discovering the joys already here.

A new year where people discover joy, and love is where it’s at.

Where the world would live as one in peace...Yes, John, I can imagine that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEW YEAR'S EVE

I have always felt a little lucky for all the blessings I’ve received

Not the least is having my birthday fall on New Year’s Eve.

When I was young I was astonished to think everyone on Earth

Would come together with friends and family just to celebrate of my birth.

Even perfect strangers would meet in places like Times Square

To watch a ball drop, kiss each other, then throw confetti in the air.

Of course I now know that kind of thinking was a bit deluded

Because all the partying and confetti comes once my birthday’s been concluded.

Yes, it seems all those people who gather, all those strangers, all my friends

Are not happy that my birthday’s here, their happy when it ends.

By then it was too late, however, for I knew by fate I had been kissed

And now I see the world through the eyes of an eternal optimist.

I guess that’s why when Deborah asks about a gift, when she finally inquires

My answer is the same each year...I have everything I desire.

I have a wife whom I love and who will love me till the end

I was lucky when I married Deborah to have married my best friend.

I have children who I’ve seen grow up and now that I’m old and grayed

They are happy and still love me in spite of mistakes I’ve made.

I have grandchildren who ever since they were tiny, little blokes

Have loved me and, more important, still laugh at all my jokes.

OK, it’s possible over the years their laughter has turned to moans

But a Pop Pop only hears the laughter where other’s hear the groans.

I have been very lucky, yes truly blessed indeed

For life has set before me everything I’ll ever need.

That’s why when Deborah asks, I’m not being nonchalant

What can I possibly need when I have everything I want?

A birthday is like a new beginning and time again to realize

That everything we will ever need is right before our eyes.

I think there are many people who already know this, at least that’s what I believe

Perhaps that’s why everyone celebrates my birthday, New Years Eve.

GOOD LUCK IN 2014

To ensure that luck will come our way it seems there’s nothing we won’t do

We’ll carry a rabbit’s foot, cross our fingers or hang an old horseshoe.

Not only do we hang it but to show we know what its luck is all about

We hang the darn thing pointing up so the luck will not run out!

How do these superstitions form? It’s really not to hard to see,

As so many other things in life...blame it on the family.

When I think back to my childhood one superstition I hold dear

Is the odd but appealing way we greeted each new year.

At the first stroke of midnight New Year’s Eve, seconds before the Happy New Year shout

We’d open up the back door and let all the bad luck out.

Once all the bad luck exited, at least as far as we were concerned

We’d quickly shut the door so it could not return.

Then before the clock struck midnight we’d run to the front door in a blur,

And open it to welcome the New Year and any good luck accompanying her.

When I grew older and wiser(?) I wondered what we were doing this for

After all couldn’t the bad luck just run around and return through our front door?

In moments of practicality I believed this is just what would ensue.

I mean think about it, if it were truly bad, isn’t that just what it would do?

When I grew even older and wiser I overcame my misguided suspicion

And I began to comprehend the whole point of this tradition.

The point is not to ensure only good luck will appear

The point is to renew our hopes and dreams as we welcome the new year.

So this year as when I was a boy at the first stroke of midnight New Year’s Eve

I’ll be at my open back door watching all that bad luck leave.

Then I’ll run over to the front door as strange and funny as that seems

To welcome in the New Year with all her hopes and dreams.

Do any of these superstitions work?  Have they every brought good luck to me?

I guess it’s possible and, knock on wood, that’s good enough for me.

SOME ODD MOMENTS OF 2013

Any look back at 2013 wouldn’t be quite complete

Unless we looked at some of the moments we hope not to repeat...

He didn’t break any laws (although it was a moral misdemeanor)

When Anthony Weiner went online and posted pictures of his weiner.

And just when we thought his sordid story couldn’t get any stranger

He started texting women in the name of Carlos Danger.

Manti T’eo was in the news, the Notre Dame linebacker had regrets

When he revealed he was in love...with a girl he never met. 

Marco Rubio, the Florida senator...for a while no Republican was hotter

Until, that is, the state of the union rebuttal when he chugged that glass of water.

A zoo in China promised a lion in their brochures and catalogues

Turns out their lion wasn’t a lion but a giant, furry dog.

Obama passed Obamacare, he was going to make health care right

And it might have worked if anyone could have logged on to his site.

This year saw Miley Cyrus twerking everyone as if she was possessed

And we had our fill of the Kardashians (didn’t we?) and too much Kanye West.

At Nelson Mandela’s funeral the interpreter’s signing seemed idiotic

Turns out the man so close to so many world leaders was a little bit psychotic.

There is now a new affliction that made many of us come unhitched

For it seems you can be as bad as you want as long as you are rich.

It’s true, and it’s called Affluenza ...I only have one thing to add

The whole thing, like most of these stories, would be pretty funny...if they weren’t so very sad.

I could go on and on and mention Simon Cowell’s indiscretion

And all those other politicians that had to make confessions.

But I won’t...let’s just say goodbye to these moments that were odd and unforeseen

And hope they don’t return to haunt us in 2014.

Although we probably haven’t seen the last of Miley or the Kim/Kanye duet.

And I imagine Anthony has even bigger plans for his old weiner yet.

Which makes me wonder will next year be better than this one or even more extreme?

Ah, that is the beauty of not knowing for one can hope and one can dream.

THE ROACH

Yesterday I defended my theory about squirrels and how dangerous they can be

Only to find there are some people out there who disagree with me.

To those still under their magical spell, my heart goes out to you

For when they come for me, and they will, you’ll be taken too....

Let’s say you think squirrels are cute; you believe they’re behavior above reproach.

You have to agree with me, unless your an entomologist, about our friend the roach.

I don’t have the statistics but when all the counting’s done

I believe roaches outnumber us by about a billion to one.

If you think roaches do not plan or perhaps are not so bright

Why then do they run for the hills the minute you turn on the lights?

Because they’ve been devising a plan as they crawl over our dishes and our cups

And when you turn the lights on they know the jig is up.

Yes they don’t think I’m on to them but there can be no doubt

They are definitely planning something once the lights go out.

Why after you’ve been on vacation with your family or you spouse

Do you come home to find roach droppings scattered throughout your house?

I have seen the evidence and I’m sure that you have too

How else can you explain the things I’ve found in my barbecue?

Some are much more brazen, they must like to see you squealing

As they climb right up your walls or walk across your ceiling.

And isn’t it funny how they get their kicks by invading your personal space

When you wake up in the evening and one is walking on your face?

I believe it’s part of their higher plan, perhaps that’s how they wield their power

By accosting us at the most inopportune times, like when we’re in the shower.

How often have you tried to kill them? You’ve tried hitting, you’ve even sprayed

Only to watch them crawl through a crack the width of a razor blade.

Even if you succeed and you think you’ve killed them all

What’s the use? There are a million more scurrying inside the wall?

Still think I’m paranoid, I’m off my rocker, that you have nothing to dismay?

Well let me tell you what I observed in my yard just yesterday.

I looked out my window to see the squirrels’ and roaches I’ve been fighting

Meeting in my oak tree...I think they are uniting!

KILLER SQUIRRELS?

Deborah tells me I’m paranoid but let me give my theory a whirl

I believe we must be very weary of our little friend the squirrel.

(Did you notice how I said little friend, I am exercising much discretion

When they read this, and they will, I don’t want them to get the wrong impression.)

Let’s begin with one statistic. Did you know when all the counting’s done

It seems the squirrels outnumber humans by a score of 3 to 1.

And have you ever observed squirrels? I don’t mean to cause a fuss

But watch them and you’ll quickly notice they’re observing us!

When Deborah and I take a walk in the morning there’s a squirrel in every tree

And I can’t help but get the feeling that they’re all watching me.

Oh when I look at them they pretend to play without a care or fear

But I know they know I know they’re not as innocent as they appear.

For instance if all squirrels were as adorable as most people think they are

Why do they wait till I am finished washing it before pooping on my car?

If squirrels were just cute little rodents who are both charming and appealing

Why do they chew their way inside our attic and run across our ceiling?

And finally if you’ve ever had a bird feeder you know about squirrelish gall

They devise elaborate plans for reaching the food so they can have it all.

I’ve even seen them work in tandem, one distracts me, I give chase

While the other climbs the bird feeder and quickly feeds his face.

I used to believe I am larger than they are and my brain is bigger too

Now I’ve come to realize that only one of those is true.

So tell me am I being paranoid, or am I the one whose truly wise?

Am I as crazy as Deborah says or are squirrels planning my demise?

As you make your judgement think of all the squirrels that frequent your life too

And remember it’s not paranoia if it actually is true.

If you think my argument is solid and my reasoning above reproach

Tomorrow I’ll tell you how I feel about our little friend...the roach.