Happy 2010

There's a little less than an hour left of 2009 on the west coast. Friends and family have already rung in the new year on the east coast and in the Midwest, and some of them are most likely already in bed asleep. The aughts are almost over. (as in '09)

Ten years ago tonight, my daughters were 3 1/2 yrs. and 1 1/2 months old. We celebrated by watching the ball drop in Times Square on the New York ABC channel, 9:00pm our time, then put them to bed and had a quiet evening. In those days I was getting sleep where I can get it.

Tonight there was Beatles Rock Band, Facebook conversations, instant messaging, and a Doctor Who marathon that became a "The Nanny" marathon.

There is no question that, while not as euphoric as last year's New Year's Eve celebration was, with the lingering euphoria of Barack Obama's victory and anticipation of his inauguration, tonight's celebration is hopeful and joyful.

The past year under President Obama's leadership we have been able to relax a bit, to feel a little more secure in the state of the country and the world. In spite of multiple crises, we have been led by a man who deeply cares about the welfare and future of the country and its citizens, and has the intellect to deal with the stumbling blocks, with an optimistic eye.

President Obama reflects that American optimism in his New Year's address. (see it here)

I am looking forward to the next decade, with the same optimism for the future that my grandfather looked at the approach of 1910, and the same optimism with which I greeted 2000, for a bright future for my children.

Happy New Year.

It's Almost Christmas

"It's almost Christmas..."

I'll bet there's a bad holiday-themed pop love song out there that starts with those words. And I'll bet it's been used in one of the many sappy Christmas movies that flood Lifetime, Hallmark Channel and ABCFamily this time of year.

I have a confession. I love watching those movies. And I'm determined to write one. Although it will probably be a parody amalgamation, it will still be full of all the corny things that make us keep tuning into them year after year.

So take a look at that picture, there. Okay.

What comes to mind?

Whatever it is, that is what those holiday movies are all about. Just replace the actors with Dean Cain or one of your favorite TV actresses, and you've got it.

Happy Holidays.

The First Snow

It's Sunday evening.

The children are in their rooms creating, dreaming, and anticipating. My other half is playing an online interactive computer game, which for some reason doesn't turn him into a total geek. He and #1 got back a while ago with our Christmas tree, which is now in its stand in the living room "falling" before the lights are added. He did plug in the

I just let the dog in from outside, his fur wet from falling snow.

It's finally snowing.

After a week of sub-freezing and at times frigid temperatures and clear skies, we are getting snow. It's fine, wet, barely sticking, but it's snow.

It's the first snowfall of the season. Last year at this time the kids had already missed five days of school for flooding, vandalism and snow. For the first time in three years, there have been no school closings. While November and December snows are typically rare, the past couple of years have raised expectations.

This snow won't last long. It's going to start raining tomorrow.

But, for now, it's snowing.

Pearl Harbor Day

Growing up, I heard first-hand accounts from parents, grandparents, relatives and their contemporaries about how they heard about the bombing at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on a December 7, 1941. My parents were kids; my grandparents, who remembered WWI, carefully navigating their way out of the Great Depression that devastated a generation. My mother-in-law remembers because it meant the Americans would soon be there to help defend Australia against the Japanese. (See the recent film "Australia.")

Everyone remembered most clearly the speech by President Roosevelt "...a day that shall live in infamy..."

But will it?

I thought about that today. And I wondered: Were there significant dates in past centuries on which later generations listened to stories about where people were during previous wars? Perhaps about Lexington and Concord, or the burning of Atlanta? Perhaps, to those eye witnesses, those events were as infamous as Pearl Harbor.

The existence of mass media will keep events like the sinking of the Lusitania, or Pearl Harbor or 9/11 vivid in the memory of history. But I just wonder what it was like to sit and listen to those events recounted.