New Year is the time or day at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner and the 1st day of January is often marked as a national holiday. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1 (New Year's Day). This was also the case both in the Roman calendar (at least after about 713 BC) and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it.
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.
And there's a hand, my trusty friend!
And give us a hand of yours!
And we'll take a deep draught of good-will
For long, long ago.
In 1788 Robert Burns sent the poem 'Auld Lang Syne' to the Scots Musical Museum, indicating that it was an ancient song but that he'd been the first to record it on paper. The phrase 'auld lang syne' roughly translates as 'for old times' sake', and the song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year.
It is sung all over the world, evoking a sense of belonging and fellowship, tinged with nostalgia.
It has long been a much-loved Scottish tradition to sing the song just before midnight. Everyone stands in a circle holding hands, then at the beginning of the final verse ('And there's a hand my trusty friend') they cross their arms across their bodies so that their left hand is holding the hand of the person on their right, and their right hand holds that of the person on their left. When the song ends, everyone rushes to the middle, still holding hands, and probably giggling.
This year Tricia and I will be spending New Years in Pasadena, CA. with 75 new friends and their 35 Airstreams (3 of those will be Airstream motorhomes).
A total of 25 of those Airstreams (including us) will be First-Timers to this amazing event and will be attending from 8 different states from all around the country.
You may be wondering, "What event is that?"
It's the 41st Annual Airstream Club "Rose Parade Rally"!
And YES, it's the same Colorado Boulevard mentioned in the 1964 song by Jan and Dean, The Little Old Lady from Pasadena.
Additionally we purchased tickets to Equifest for Friday, Dec. 30th to watch the parade horses perform drills, dances and trick riding demonstrations by the talented riders.
We also purchased tickets to see Bandfest for Saturday, Dec. 31st, where we'll get a sneak peak of the upcoming Rose Parade bands before they make their 5½-mile march down Colorado Boulevard on January 2nd preceding the big football game.
And if that isn't enough to keep us busy we purchased tickets to watch them put the final touches on the parade floats at one of the Float Decorating locations. That too will be on Saturday, Dec. 31st, so we are going to have a very busy New Years Eve and it's not even dark out yet.
At least we'll have New Years Day to recover before the parade the next day.
P.S. - Don't bother looking for us on the TV because we are near the beginning of the parade route and nowhere near any of the "Camera Zones".
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
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