The year ended with a half-dozen of fresh eggs. We fed my friend's (also a poet) chickens and were there when Buttercup (who doesn't look at all like her name--she's mammoth) laid an egg in her nesting box. And while my low-key description doesn't do the scene justice, it was beyond thrilling. There were cheers, running to the nest box to retrieve the warm egg. Thump-thump. Egg. Perfection!
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The year began and ended with a sightings of all our birds--kingfisher, heron, and bald eagle.
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The year began with a pop from the illegal fireworks being set off in my
neighborhood beginning at 11:45 p.m. I was awake with my golden retriever. I opened a can of whipped cream and sprayed a dab for my 2 cats and my dog as a little happy new year's treat. I opened a bottle of Martinelli sparkling apple cider and realized it's not as good as Knutson's. I drank from a champagne flute.
My daughter was asleep and my husband was saving the city. He's worked the last 8 new year's starting with the big 2000. It's not a choice, just a firefighter schedule. He had 18 runs in 24 hours. Child with seizures. House fire. Drunk driving accident. Drunk driving accident. Drunk driving accident. Woman with tumors.
I woke up at 7:30 the morning and caught a ferry to Seattle.
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We ended up at an impromptu meal with my husband's family at a crazy buffet restaurant in Seattle (his family is nutty about the buffet). I had sushi, stirfry, and a sundae- an alliteration new year's lunch.
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I want to say I am optimistic about the new year, but I am superstitious, so what I can say is glitter, open doors.
My husband's mom is more superstitious than I am--does being Catholic cause this as my family is ridiculously superstitious and so is she and all were brought up in the traditional Catholic style ritual and punishment--and he said his mom had been throwing pennies on her living room floor for good luck. I've never heard of this before. Maybe I should say I'm optimistic and throw pennies on the floor.
Or maybe I should just say it's morning on the second day of the year and I am having coffee while my family reads in our tree-free living room. Maybe I should just say let's open the door and see what the world says.
