By Alex Berger
Welcome To The New Year
Who comes dancing over the snow,
His soft little feet all bare and rosy?
Open the door, though the wild winds blow,
Take the child in and make him cozy.
Take him in and hold him dear,
He is the wonderful happy New Year
– Dinah M. Craik
On Dec. 31, when the clock's hour hand and minute hand embrace and it is midnight, the day, the month, and the year will all disappear and the new year of 2001 will make its grand entrance. Loud noises will reverberate o'er Times-Ledger country as far as the ear can hear. Bells, whistles, and yelling throats, in synchronization, will contribute to a most deafening din. Everyone will smile and shout “Happy New Year!” to any and all living things within their vicinity. Eating, drinking and of course, kissing, will abound.
These unique carryings-on will be most notable in Times Square where a horde of squeezed bodies, pinned against one another, will wait to watch a large crystal ball descend.
Did you know that the first New Year's Eve ball dropped in 1907? – It had only 100 lightbulbs. See what you can learn from reading this column?
But why, you may reasonably ask, is there all the fuss and bother on this night? Simply put, this is the American way of ushering in a new year.
I always look forward to receiving many wonderful cards and letters from my faithful readers, which I will treasure to my dying day. Here are a few samples of some I just received this morning:
“There is plenty of humor in you. Too bad you can't get it out.” “You have a nice column, but not for reading.” “I don't know what I would do without your weekly columns but I will certainly try.” “I just read your last week's column. When will you make a comeback?”
Thanks to all of you. I certainly appreciate your taking the time to write your heart-warming thoughts to me, after you have tediously Christmas shopped, trimmed the tree, wrapped the presents, hauled down the stockings from the closet, gave out presents, returned presents, and visited friends and relatives.
Of course, with the New Year comes my annual resolutions, although I really shouldn't, since I still have quite a few left over from last year. Sorry, I will never resolve to stop listing my resolutions.
For starters, I hereby resolve NEVER to eat anything that moves faster than my fork; NEVER to take a memory course from a man who has his pants on backwards; NEVER to hire any babysitter currently in the Witness Protection Program; NEVER to forget that there are really only two things in life to worry about – One: Things will never get back to normal and Two: They already have; NEVER to smile when everything goes wrong because people will think I am either a nut or a repairman; and, NEVER, ever again, to procrastinate, starting next month.
For my final resolution, let me relate, here and now, this contemplative, awe-inspiring tale: A lion killed a bull and ate it. He was so proud of this feat that he began to roar. He roared so loud and for so long that he didn't hear the hunter sneak up behind him until it was too late. So here's my final resolution – when I am full of bull, I should keep my mouth shut.
May all my troubles last as long as these resolutions.
So, readers, resolve to raise your hat to the past year and take your coat off to the future one.
May you all have: Enough happiness to keep you sweet, enough trials to keep you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to keep you happy, enough failure to keep you humble, enough success to keep you eager, enough wealth to meet your needs, enough enthusiasm to look forward, enough faith to banish depression, and, enough determination to make each day better than the day before.
I wish you love and laughs for the New Year. And have happiness, with only enough sadness to know the difference.
As they say in different tongues: Buon Capodanno (Italian); Prospero Ano Nuevo (Spanish); Guten Yontiff (Yiddish), Gung Hay Fat Choy (Chinese); Kun Ha Shin Yun (Korean); Me Shnet Vita I Ri (Albanian); Voorspoedig Niewjaar (Dutch); Sa Zdarovlen Novoe Leta (Russian); Nutan Varsha Abhinandan (Indian); Sretna Nova Godina (Yugoslavian); Feliz Ano Nobo (Aruba Papiamento); and Nawa Sal Mubarak Mo (Punjab).
I almost forgot another important one: Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. See you next year.
