Welcoming 2016

I have to admit, for many years, I didn't particularly care for New Year's Eve. In fact, I found it a bit incongruous to be celebrating another year gone. It became the epitome of those nights where you lie in bed, thinking about what you should/could/would have done in any number of completely inconsequential situations. I avoided raucous parties and drunken revelry, envisioning myself as a character in some horrifying Edgar Allen Poe tale (think The Masque of Red Death).

Of course, when I was on the rescue, many New Year's Eves were quite memorable. One was spent on stand-by at a huge chicken coop fire (the coop was empty) and I recall another tending to accident victims on a treacherous, ice-covered hill. Those New Year's Eves weren't so bad; you forget your own existential angst when you're on the job and focusing on helping someone else, who might be having the worse day of their lives.

Since reaching a certain age, and maybe some level of tenuous maturity, I've been able to embrace this time of year, if not the New Year's Eve thing. I try not to reflect too much, or make false resolutions, but simply appreciate the fact that the days are now getting longer, that the home fires are warm, and that I have the comforts of wonderful friends and family. We'll go to a local inn and have a quiet but elegant dinner -- and will likely be asleep before ten o'clock. And that's OK.

I have kept one family tradition, a nod to my mother's French-Canadian heritage -- making a French meat pie on New Year's Day. My grandmother, and great-grandmother would always make a meat pie, roast a turkey and have a veritable feast while the men played cards. They didn't do too much on New Year's Eve, either.

I wish all of you a safe, happy and healthy New Year -- no matter you celebrate (or don't celebrate). This year is another chance to get it right! See you in 2016!