“Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.”
The rain is still here, but it is a warm day, a day without any wind. I was in the backyard earlier picking up trash and hoping Nala would drop my sandal, one of a pair I bought in 2011 when I went back to Ghana for the first time. I thought it was well hidden. Wrong! She dropped it at the word treat, and the pair has been reunited and hidden in a new spot.
New Year’s Eve never meant much to me when I was a kid. I was usually in bed early. When I woke up the next morning, it was to a new year, but nothing had really changed, just the date on my school papers. As I got older, I really wanted to stay up to midnight. It seemed like the magic hour. When I finally did, it was a bit of a disappointment, blow a few horns, yell Happy New Year and end with a kiss. That was it, a noisy celebration.
When I was a kid, the week after Christmas was quiet. All the anticipation was gone. I mostly either read my new book, I always got new books, or played a new game, we always got a new game or watched TV. The year of my bike I was out the whole week riding. We had no snow that year. I rode all over town proud of my new bike. I went to the movie matinee. I went to Woolworth’s. The week passed slowly.
The first new year I was in Ghana, I visited my Ghanaian family in Bawku. My sister took me to church on New Year’s Eve. It was an amazing service with drums and dancing and singing. The women were all dressed in their finest, their three piece formal dresses made with Ghanaian cloth. The men wore fugus, smocks, the traditional men’s garb in the Upper Region back then. I wore a dress of bright, colorful Ghanaian cloth. That church service was a celebration filled with riots of color and sound. I danced in the aisle. I wished everyone a Happy New Year. We all hugged. That still is the most memorable New Year’s Eve of my life.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Bawku, church, Ghana, New Year, Peace Corps
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
December 29, 2023 at 3:53 pm
Hi Kat,
Today is sunny with light wind and a high of 58°.
The week between Christmas and New Years always was a letdown when I was a kid and too much time off as an adult. New Year’s Eve was always more exciting in anticipation than in actuality. I have always stayed away from crowds and getting drunk, especially on New Years. Being Jewish we celebrate two different New Years, one solemn and the other festive. One we ask forgiveness from those we have hurt and the other resolutions that almost always become unfulfilled. It’s like guilt from the past or guilt into the future. 🙂
December 30, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Hi Bob,
I agree about this week being a bit of a let down. The one think it had going for itself was no school for the whole week. I have been to a few parties to celebrate the New Year but that was when I was far younger. Now I am content at home.
I went to First Night in Boston once. It was the coldest night so the inside venues were filled. The ice sculptures survived!