Now is the time for Twenty! Are you ready?

Just 10 years ago we were preparing for our entry into a new century.  Not really because the new century began with the year 2001.  (Two Thousand One).  We were face to face with the end of time.  Surely all of the clocks in the world would stop, because computer programmers hadn't planned on a year beginning with 20 instead of 19. Airplanes would fall from the sky, and nuclear defense systems would collapse at the stroke of midnight January 1, 2000.
When we awoke on New Years Day that next morning, the sun had come up as it had for centuries, the newspaper was in the mailbox and small birds few across the sky in erratic patterns.  Just as Ebenezer Scrooge awakened on Christmas morning and everything was, as it was, and it was good, so had we awakened to the dawn of a new day, and it was New Years Day.  The world had not ended.  There was hope.  The new decade was here, and those next ten years were certainly tumultuous.  However, as we look backward at those years how will we label it?

I grew up in the 60's and 70's.  LA and I were married in the 90's.  Maybe we could call the last decade the Two Thousands.  A local radio station personality quipped they should be called the 'Naught Years'.

Further complicating the this dilemma is the fact that some people referred to some individual years as 'two oh four', 'two oh six' or 'two oh nine'.  When I took my car for service, the tech at Bonner Chevrolet would ask me which car I had for service that day.  I'd say, "I have the Oh four Impala", or "The Oh five Malibu.  He understood.  LA is considering a new vehicle in a few months, how will I refer to it's year of origin?

I recently watched an episode of "The Colbert Report", where Stephen refers to the Vancouver Olympics as occurring in "Oh ten".  So is the next decade to be nameless as the last?  Shall it fade into obscurity?  Will the next decade be an extension of the unnamed one just past?

Let's cut the cord and separate the past decade with the new one born this week.  I say we are ready for Twenty!  "Twenty Ten".  It has a familiar ring to it.  It wasn't so long ago that we started all of our years with "Nineteen".  Let's not be satisfied with another year or decade of indecisiveness by calling next year "Two Thousand Ten", or the inevitable predictable "Oh Ten".

If we don't act now, we run the risk of having future generations wonder why we weren't thinking ahead.

Happy New Year, Twenty Ten

Click the link to the right. "Twas the night before Christmas"

  I took a day off from work last Friday.  There were some things on my mind I wanted to get in done before the Holiday's.  My Christmas shopping was finished.  I wanted to straighted up and clean the basement.  An unusual  thing to have on my mind to do, perhaps a small dose of OCD kicked in, as I'm not usually that fussy.  The completed project would have taken a few days,  but what I did took 2 hours.  I just wanted to remove some trash, get the place a bit more organized, and to sweep up.
  Once finished I took some time for relaxing.  Sat in my chair with the laptop computer sitting where it's name implies.  I noticed that a tiny lens at the top of the laptop lid was facing me.  With a camera, I should be able to make a recording, I thought.  Once I found the related software and started it up....I was looking at a video of myself, looking at myself.  Soon  I was able to record myself looking at a video of myself.
  I spotted a book with Santa's face on the cover, picked it up, started the recorder, and recent history was made.  My first production.  I hope you enjoy my video debut.
     Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays..

The first snowfall....and Santa Claus

LA and I were out and about yesterday, picking up 'stuff' from here and there.  I was the passenger in the car, so I had the pleasure of noticing just how splendidly the first snowfall of the season had blanketed the landscape.
It really was beautiful.  To use an overused metaphor, it was just like Currier and Ives.  Light fluffy snow adorning every twig, on every branch of every limb on every tree.  It covered the lawns, but left the roads clear and wet.
I remembered being 8 years old, born and raised on Davies Alley, we didn't have much, but we had the best sleigh riding hill for blocks.  There was a good excitement about the first snowfall.  We knew that it wouldn't be long and Santa Claus would once again traverse the globe giving presents to all of the good boys and girls.
I really don't remember this part, but I am told, that when Santa arrived in downtown Pittston, my sister was charged with the task of getting me to town to see Santa.  There were a lot of good boys and girls there, and the line for Santa was very long.  Mary Louise (my sister) and I persevered, after what seemed like hours for both of us, and for completely different reasons.  I sat on Santa's lap and told him what I wanted for Christmas.
Afterward, on the way home, I spoke to Mary Louise.  "Weesa, I've been thinking about Santa Claus....and", and my sister is thinking, "Oh my, here it comes.....", as I continued, "I think that 'HE' was the real Santa Claus."
And you know, I was right!  He was there.  Amidst all of the decorations and children and parents, Santa Claus was there.
Let's not one of us forget how we once looked forward to snow, and Santa Claus.  Don't forget how we rode our sleds down long neighborhood hills.  Remember when you sat on Santa's lap and knew that he might deliver that football, EZ Bake Oven or a Red Rider BB gun on Christmas morning.
There will be plenty of time left to curse the snow covered road and icy sidewalks.