Sunday, December 29, 2019

THOUGHTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR

Anyone remember New Year's Eve 1999, the end of the 20th century, the beginning of a new millennium?
Welcome to the year 2000!

If you don't remember this momentous event, then you're too young to be reading my blog.

The Millennium Purists suddenly came out of nowhere and informed us that the new millennium didn't officially begin until the year 2001.
There's always somebody around just waiting to ruin your fun. 

 This little millennium guy was a gift. He counted backwards from 10, and then said "Welcome to the year 2000!"
 I don't know whatever happened to him.



I was living in Texas at that time. My parents were still alive. So were many of my relatives who are now deceased. I was in good health and good cheer.
What a difference 20 years makes.  

That was the last year that I prepared a huge New Year's Eve feast. It was elaborate and took days of enthusiastic work.

Years ago - when I was young, optimistic, and energetic - New Years Eve had a very special meaning to me. It was a sober, reflective time, when I seriously pondered the old year and eagerly awaited the new one.

I always prepared a fancy New Years Eve midnight supper containing my favorite things: 

smoked herring and salmon, Russian deviled eggs, Hungarian  burgonya palacsintak (potato pancakes), kolbasz (sausage), assorted cheese, assorted breads, olives and peppers, smoked oysters, pickled asparagus and hearts of palm, winter salad, and blood oranges.
And always, always dry white California Champagne. My favorite was Le Domaine. 



Every year I made my three favorite desserts: Black Forest cherry cake with real whipped cream, chocolate cheesecake, and a simple all white cake.

 One of the white cakes I made (long ago) for New Year's Eve and a gingerbread house


I yearn for those joyous, bountiful New Years Eves - - - and I'm stunned (not to mention alarmed) at how vastly different things are now......and how far I have fallen from grace.

Living alone in squalor (and ill-health) in rural Tennessee. Many of my relatives now dead. Some of my lovers are dead...others are merely lost in time. Friends (those few left) are now far away.
I have two cats to keep me company.
Meow. 

My music and serious writing are on a back burner......patiently awaiting a resurrection.

Life is what you make it, Jon.

To a very small extent that is true. But mostly life is the rude and unexpected shit that fate throws at us.
While we are foolishly gazing at the horizon - looking for unicorns and rainbows - the storm clouds suddenly descend and devour us.

Excuse me, I'm merely thinking out loud. Don't try to read too much into it.

Am I complaining? Not really. It's merely a soft lament - - remembering my past with astonishment.....and considering my future with dread.

A soft lament that stirs within my weary soul and seems to echo plaintively in the restless wind that caresses naked branches of winter trees.

Is this where I should apologize for being poetic? Or depressing?
I think not.
Blame it on my brooding magyar blood.

CHANGE OF SUBJECT

Every New Years Eve, for no other reason than abstract tradition, I drag out my antique dishes - - and I occasionally use them (very carefully, of course)


    Take ye a cuppe o kindness 
for auld lang syne

This very large cup is circa 1880

 This is my favorite antique cup, supposedly made in 1790.
Two white swans.




A haphazard collection of dishes from 1820 (200 years old!).
The little guy in the center is a creamer.



I found
this calendar plate the other day. One of my aunts gave it to my parents on New Year's Eve 1955/56
 P.S.
I'll post again before the end of the year
 (I'll bet you can't wait)

26 comments:

  1. You are right, I can't wait. I am impressed by your baking. Your writing ability is still there, thank goodness, I just wish you would use your talent to advantage.

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    1. I'm encouraged by the fact that you can't wait for my next post. I used to really enjoy baking, but now that I live alone it's mostly a lot of unnecessary trouble.

      I used to be a freelance writer and had a lot of things published - but everything has changed drastically with the computer. Magazines are nearly obsolete and the publishing industry isn't anything like it used to be.

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  2. You have some lovely pieces of china etc. I don't have any relics as such and my memories are fast fading. Does it matter, I ask myself? I think having nobody to share the memories makes it difficult to keep them alive. No, I am not maudlin. Not anymore.

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    1. I think the best way to preserve and share memories is to write about them. You're such a gifted writer that you wouldn't have any trouble doing that.

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  3. Jon, while I know your final sentence was made sarcastically, speaking for myself, I hope you do post before year end. A look back at where we were and are now has both its good and bad sides, for me as well. I was never one to celebrate New Years Eve by going anywhere or entertaining and your supper menu was outstanding, although in all honesty, you had me at the desserts especially chocolate cheesecake! Those antique cups and plates were amazing, my favorite is the 1850s auld lang syne cup.

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    1. I have always preferred to spend New Years Eve at home - even when I was young and wild. And I have never been drunk on that night. It is a time for sober reflection.
      I still have the recipe for that chocolate cheesecake (somewhere) and I'm almost tempted to make it again. I also LOVE the Black Forest cake, but that was a lot of trouble to make.

      The auld lang syne cup is from England and I got it at an online auction. I've never seen another one like it, but I'm sure they must exist.

      I will post again before the end of the year.

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  4. It's definitely a time of reflection. My kids were at such fun ages when we celebrated 2000 (10, 7, and 5). I'd love to go back for just one day and enjoy that time.

    I always enjoy seeing your antiques, Jon. Those are some beautiful cups and plates. I think I have a calendar plate of my grandmother's. I will have to see what year it is.

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    1. I enjoy posting photos of my antiques simply because nobody ever gets to see them, now that I live alone in the wilderness. I hope you find your grandmother's calendar plate. I'm surprised that mine is still in one piece after all these years.

      The millennium celebration was such a big deal and I had a lot of fun that year. I wish I could revive those times.

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  5. Your New Years Eve menu sounds exquisite! And, that cup speaks to my soul. Perhaps I should hunt for something similar at central Alabama's many antique shops . My former boss was fond of choosing certain tableware and/or glasses, etc. to honor her moods.

    It doesn't seem that long ago, choosing formal wear for a night on the town was a big deal. (Ya, I'm one of those who's always adored formal wear -- both on myself and a man.)
    And … How well I remember the advent of the millennium. The person I was seeing -- an officer on a cruise ship -- was required to be on the bridge that night. No one was exactly sure what, if anything, might happen.

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    1. I used to have basically the same New Years Eve menu every year (with slight variations) and I never got tired of it. I miss it - but now that I live alone I'm too lazy to do much cooking or baking.
      I always use tableware that reflects my moods and coincide with the seasons.

      I loved the era of formal wear and sophistication. I used to thoroughly enjoy dressing up for the opera and ballet. Nowadays everyone seems to look like slobs. Class and manners are nearly extinct.
      It seems like the millennium happened only yesterday. I can't believe 20 years have passed.

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    2. I got that auld lang syne cup at an online auction. It's from England. I wonder if there might be any similar ones online.

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    3. OMW, look what I spotted out on Etsy.com
      https://www.etsy.com/listing/722526432/english-flow-blue-large-cup-auld-lang?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=auld+lang+syne+cup&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1&pro=1

      More than what I want to spend, but still ...

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    4. Wow - that's amazing, Myra. It is VERY similar to mine, but the price is OUTRAGEOUS. I honestly can't remember what I paid for mine, but I'm positive it would have been under forty dollars.
      I love antiques but NEVER pay high prices for them.

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  6. I have always loved seeing your New Years Cup....a tradition here I'd say. I remember going out on New Years for years and years...but the last 9 years have enjoyed staying out of the limelight and staying in now for new traditions. Like you a prepare copious amounts of food and drink for friends. I seem to enjoy that more now, and like to be with my inner circle of friends. I also do a huge New Years pork roast dinner the next day. I hope your 2020 will be a much better then this year. One never seems to know.

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  7. I've had a few wild New Years Eves in my time, but I have always preferred to stay (safely) at home with relatives and friends. It's much more enjoyable. And preparing a feast can be fun. A pork roast dinner sounds great!
    I hope your 2020 will be very bright and filled with delicious (!) adventures.

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  8. Yes, it's hard to believe that was 20 years ago already. 1999 was when I moved up here to Fargo-Moorhead to start college (with the tail ends of mono from working two jobs for a couple of years--never got healthy again). I was 48 and walking a mile to school every day--crows talked to me and followed me on my route. So exciting to be in college because I had always loved school and learning. Won the freshman creative writing contest (due to a professor pushing me to enter). Was an exciting time. Glad I was there. :)

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    1. It's obvious that it was a very rewarding and fulfilling time in your life - and I'm glad the professor encouraged you to enter that contest! It's a shame that mono destroyed your health - - I strongly suspect that a similar illness did the same to me.

      They just showed Fargo on the Weather Channel and I saw all of your snow! I no longer have TV, but I get live-stream channels on the internet.
      You'll definitely have a white new years eve.

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  9. Yes, we're in the middle of a blizzard. I'm watching the partridges dig in the snow for seed--even took a video for tomorrow. They know there's always food at Rita's Bird Cafe--even in a blizzard--LOL! :)

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  10. Beautiful post, Jon. Precisely what I needed after reading an obit that saddened me deeply. My friend and in-law, Emily, passed away-- Norma held her until the end. So I face the new year with unaccustomed sobriety. As you say,"music and serious writing are on a back burner...patiently awaiting a resurrection". You ably cite enigmas, but such mysteries are not confined to spacetime and tremendous operations of the universe. They begin and end in our minds. I hope year 2020 is equal to its optometric counterpart. All best wishes!

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  11. Geo, what a sad and disheartening way to end the year and look towards the hopeful beginning of another. My heartfelt sympathy is extended to you and Norma. I hope 2020 will bring some semblance of serenity and contentment in our lives.
    My very best to you and your family.

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  12. i love that you bring out the good plates and cups for the new year. i love the swans. your menu sounds scrumptious. i really could use a piece of that white cake after your potato pancakes, olives and smoked oysters, etc. what a wonderful meal you used to treat yourself too. even though i haven't been anywhere on new year's eve in ages i like to wear an outfit adorned with sequins, that's not gaudy. and drink champagne to my hearts content on new years eve. however to be clear, i think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "But mostly life is the rude and unexpected shit that fate throws at us." and hopefully this new decade will spare you and i of anymore trauma. fingers crossed. Happy New Year, Jon. ps). you touched my soul with these words too. "A soft lament that stirs within my weary soul and seems to echo plaintively in the restless wind that caresses naked branches of winter trees." i shall remember it always. never apologize. you are poet that knows how to stir emotions and get to the crux of it all. take care. i'm hoping 2020 will be better for us both.

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    1. Your kind words mean more than you know. I think I crave praise so much because my father criticized me ruthlessly my entire life. I never really got over it.

      I miss those wonderful New Year's Eve dinners. I always looked forward to them and enjoyed preparing them. Now that I'm entirely alone I seem to have lost interest - although I still like to have something special. This year I'm having a smoked ham. I wish I could buy champagne here - or even wine. It's so ridiculous that these hick rural places don't sell it.

      Life really does throw us a lot of unexpected shit - it seems the older I get, the more bad things happen. Nothing worked out as I planned - and my deteriorating health is EXTREMELY depressing (I know you can relate to that).

      I'm glad to know that the words of my lament touched your soul...it takes a sensitive and perceptive person to fully understand....thanks. I'm hoping that this new year will bring us some much-needed light and warmth - nourishment for our weary souls. Take care.

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  13. I hope the new year is better for all of us...mine I hope don't get worse....Happy New Year!
    Melanie

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  14. Hey Melanie - it;s good to hear from you. I know you've been going through tough times and I really hope that things will get better. Hopefully the new year will be brighter for all of us (is that asking for too much??). Take care and hang in there.

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  15. Your dishes are beautiful! I was born in 1956. :)The world and the people in mine certainly have changed. I've lost two brothers, and my husband as well as several friends. The roller coaster of life continues.

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    1. Somehow, at the end of each year my optimism wanes and the fact that I'm not getting any younger is depressing. I'm not exactly ancient, but I'm old enough to miss the "good ol' days" when my life was more vital.

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