I spent New Year’s Eve at the GoldenVillage clubhouse, sharing a wonderful evening with fellow 55-plussers; dining, dancing and singing-along to tunes from the 60s.It always amazes me when, as if by magic, a musical introduction will spark total recall of the words to so many golden oldies – "Runaway", "California Dreamin'", “Pretty Woman”. Those were the days, my friend, those were the days!
In keeping with my 55+ habits, I left the party well before midnight and rang in the New Year from the cozy comfort of my bed.Despite warm pyjamas and a fluffy quilt, I shivered when thousands of freezing New York party-going faces appeared on my TV screen.In unison with them I counted down the last ten seconds to midnight, loudly calling out "Happy New Year" as the crystal-laden ball completed it's descent into Times Square. Watching fireworks flash across the TV screen and listening to others explode nearby, I contentedly counted my blessings and thought about how happy I am just to be me, doing what I'm doing.
Although tickets for the New Year’s Day Parade of Roses were long-ago sold-out, I had the good luck to be gifted with a ticket for a bus excursion from Hemet to Pasadena to see the floats on January 2.As I watched the speeding traffic on the freeway between Hemet and Pasadena I imagined that close proximity to the floats would be the ultimate in stopping to smell the roses.
Twenty-four hours earlier the floats had been brought to life by technology, waving celebrities and the thundering music of high school marching bands.In sharp contrast, they now stood vacant and silent, the heads of the millions of roses drooping ever so slightly.
Parked along a two-mile route through a residential neighbourhood, whatever smell those flowers otherwise might have had was overpowered by the immediate and irresistible smell of popcorn, mixed with essence of hot-dog, burger, and burrito. The boulevards were lined with make-shift food and tee-shirt stalls from which vendors loudly and enthusiastically flogged their wares.
What fun I had bobbing and weaving through the jostling, carnival-mood crowd! Munching on popcorn I stopped beside each of the 40-odd floats to wonder at the resourceful use of colourful flowers, fruits and vegetables to create castles, garden scenes, and 15-foot high replicas of familiar characters such as the lion, scarecrow and tin man.Happily, I swapped cameras with strangers who also wanted their pictures taken beside the layers of flowers that one was close enough to count, had one been possessed of the necessary patience, time and inclination.
2009 is off and running!Although in previous years, it sometimes seemed I didn’t have any time for the things I really wanted to do, this year, it simply seems I won’t have enough time to do all the things I want to do.
Originally created chronicle the excellent adventure of a year off from work; this blog is again being called into service as I plot the great California get-away of 2011.
Parked along a two-mile route through a residential neighbourhood, whatever smell those flowers otherwise might have had was overpowered by the immediate and irresistible smell of popcorn, mixed with essence of hot-dog, burger, and burrito. The boulevards were lined with make-shift food and tee-shirt stalls from which vendors loudly and enthusiastically flogged their wares.
What fun I had bobbing and weaving through the jostling, carnival-mood crowd! Munching on popcorn I stopped beside each of the 40-odd floats to wonder at the resourceful use of colourful flowers, fruits and vegetables to create castles, garden scenes, and 15-foot high replicas of familiar characters such as the lion, scarecrow and tin man. Happily, I swapped cameras with strangers who also wanted their pictures taken beside the layers of flowers that one was close enough to count, had one been possessed of the necessary patience, time and inclination.
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Happy New Year Barb.
ReplyDeleteMy wish for you is that you get to do all of those things on your list in 2009