One Endless Night!

'Tis the 31st December, 2006! My last day of 2006 began at 3.30am - why did I wake at that early hour? I really have no answer to give, other than perhaps I wanted the last day of 2006 to linger longer...I wanted to stretch it out as far as I possibly could! Life is like that sometimes. At times, I get weary. I get 'down'. I want to disappear from the world and humanity, but in saying that, also I want to savour every precious moment. Once the moment is gone, it can never be repeated! Time trudges on unforgiving, sometimes cruelly...other times kindly. Life is a paradox....it asks many questions of one. I'm yet to find all the right answers. I never will, but it sure as hell is interesting, intriguing and inspiring trying!

Dear friends...a couple...husband and wife...came to lunch today. They arrived around 11am and departed full of good cheer almost six hours later, give a minute or three. A most enjoyable, laughter-filled afternoon ensued. Of course, we ate far over our limits...but what's new, amongst good company? It goes without having to say...we sipped on a few grape juices, also! Copious amounts of all things that tickle the palate! Our whistles were well-moistened!

Now I am back to being me with me. For a while as the sun, hidden by a shroud of high, grey cloud, descended below the far horizon, I sat outside enjoying the peaceful ambience of late afternoon. Raucous white cockatoos made a rowdy farewell to 2006 or an early welcome to 2007, as they flew and swooped across the sky above. Do you think they wanted me to invite them down to have a drink with me? Maybe I should have!

Subconsciously, I think my Scottish heritage came to haunt me. The lunchtime debris has been cleaned, washed, covered (what little there is left of it!) and put away. The dining table is back in its rightful position. Even the floor has been swept! As is the Scottish tradition, I now await my tall, handsome, dark-haired gentleman to be the first to cross my threshold at the stroke of midnight! I have the right candidate chosen for this duty! Unfortunately, he is thousands of miles away! But, hey! I can pretend...I'm great at pretending! He is here in spirit, whether he knows it or not...his spirit will always be with me...New Year's Eve or not!

Being part of dusk falling is an awesome experience...it matches being a part of the golden, fiery master...the sun, rise. Many sunrises I've witnessed...if I'm lucky...and still awake, I might be here, sitting on my patio, part of tomorrow's first, silent entrance. I'm in 'that' kind of mood this evening. Even if I don't make it through to sun rise...I will see the New Year in...that is a promise...not a threat!

A light, gentle, balmy breeze interrupts the sleep of the leaves upon the trees. They're not protesting. The caress of its soft, gossamer breaths of air is a soothing lullaby.

In case you have been wondering...I am going to have a most pleasant New Year's Eve. I hope your New Year's Eve is likewise enjoyed.