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| Me at the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade 1965 (with the big smile and trench coat) |
Here I am, another New Year's Eve working at the hotel.
I'm at work now, on call at the front desk. Waiting for one more guest to check in.
Surprisingly, occupancy is quite good tonight, albeit subdued. No one asked me where the fireworks are tonight. I wouldn't know if you asked me. I don't think the locals are doing a fireworks display this year. Too much of a super spreader event.
Tomorrow will begin another new year. Hopefully this coming new year will be vastly better than 2020. One thing for sure, Trump will be gone. But not of course without a last grasp by his coward Congressional Republicans seeking to overturn the lawful election of Joseph Biden as president. Trump and his cowed sycophants say there was "massive fraud." Where? Show us! Of course they have no evidence, they're just following Dear Leader's exhortations. They are petrified of a negative Trump tweet that could affect their reelection chances that they will do anything Dear Leader instructs them to do. Notice how I slip into these rants?
Change of subject.
Lately I've been having a lot of dreams. No nightmares, thank goodness. I don't think I've ever had a nightmare in my life. Some uncomfortable dreams for sure but none of those dramatic, wake up screaming nightmares like you see in the movies.
My dreams of late have been of friends, family and pets of mine that are departed. Sometimes I think they are beckoning to me. Probably are since I'm not that far from Check Out Time. I've already outlived most of my contemporaries, something that I would never have imagined if you had asked me that when I was in my younger days. I thought for sure I would be gone by the time I was sixty years old. I almost checked out when I was seventeen years old from that botched hernia operation where I contacted a staph (sepsis) infection that took me six months and numerous hospital stays and surgeries to correct. Maybe my young resilient body saved me that time.
Now, my whole body aches. In fact it is aching now (back). I had to take another Advil. I can't stand more than an hour before the left side of my back below my shoulder blade screams in increasing pain. Could be a lot worse of course. That's what I always tell myself when I focus too much on my woes.
Any New Year's Eve resolutions Ron? No for me, I'm not one for New Year's Eve resolutions. If I make any resolutions, I make them during the year to correct course. It's what I've done all my life and I'm not about to change now.
This time of year I often think of my New Year's celebrations of years past when I was in the prime of my life. I lived in Philadelphia. New Year's Eve was spent at the local gay bar (usually the Westbury Bar which is now a drug store or the 247 Bar which is now a restaurant - gay bars are an artifact of history in these inclusive accepting times of the so called "gay life-style"). New Year's Day was spent watching the Mummer's strut down Broad Street in Philadelphia. Of course drinking was involved thus the cold didn't bother me too much. Now in my old man days, New Year's Day will be spent at home with Bill, doing my usual routine. Breakfast, then to my home office to check my e-mails, update my on-line Scrabble games with Pat and a slew of strangers on Facebook, lunch, nap, then back to my home office for more e-mail checks and online Scrabble games and maybe update my blog. Hopefully I'll have one of my Netflix DVD's to watch tomorrow at the Tipton Cinema (my home theater in my bedroom.)
Such is the life of this seventy-nine year old Delawarean this new year. I don't even have my Palm Springs Winter Escape to look forward too. I cancelled that trip last week because of the virus. I haven't received my refund yet which is bothering me. That's something I will have to check into next week.
Have a happy new year everyone!