Another year, another blog post by Vincenzo. Some things you can always count on.
Whenever I looked back upon the year, I tend to whine and moan about how nothing has changed and how the "future" looks suspiciously like the past – with a few more technological time sucking devices in our hands. (Which is something to complain about. Why are we still using our hands? Why aren't we resting comfortably in some sort of virtual reality pod, doing everything with our minds?)
Anyway... Not this year. This year I'm going to bore you with the bright side of time travel (a.k.a. getting older).
Since the arrival of kids (9 years and counting) I have never really embraced New Year's eve and/or day. Often going to bed way before a drooling Dick Clark can awkwardly count down the last 10 seconds of his "Rocking Chair New Year's Eve" show into the next year. But this year our kids begged us to let them stay (and keep us) up until midnight. It would be their first time.
We started the evening off with a 3-hour Cineplex treat – seeing Avatar. (I won't give a movie review here, except to say it was mind blowing.) By the time we got home it was 10pm. So with 2 hours to kill before midnight, we pulled out all the stops with a couple of board games, a couple of rounds of Wii Sport Resort (Christmas gift from Santa), snacks and drinks (Galliano for the adults) beside a roaring fireplace fire.
With a few minutes left in the year, waiting for the ball to drop on Times Square, I had a thought about what I would remember 2009 by. Nothing of great historic significance jumped out at me, and I felt a bit of disappointment (and another sarcastic blog post coming on). But I turned the question onto my family. "What do you remember about 2009?" I asked them.
They all thought about it for a few seconds. Then Sammy, my youngest, answered. "Our vacation on the lake in New Hampshire," he said.
Joseph followed this with, "We built a tree fort."
Deb added, "And the new patio."
The list continued with other additions made around the house, other trips throughout the year (Virginia, Washington DC), and visits by our Australian cousins. Strange things like the "tadpole/frog/mosquitoes" incident, and the possum in the barn – made the list. As well as some sad things like Uncle Herbie dying or our friends/neighbors moving.
In the end, when the clock struck midnight and Dick Clark's smiling face signaled the coming of the new year – we had a list of the things we would remember about 2009. A full list that we could be proud of. Things that no one but us could appreciate.
So while as adults the years seem to be zipping past quicker and appear to be blending together – remember that through the eyes of a child those seemingly insignificant moments just might make their list of favorite moments of the year.
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