FINALE

Do I take a curtain call? Or do I subtly disappear without an encore?

The old year is fading quickly but not fast enough.. It was, arguably, the worst year of my life. I was relentlessly plagued with serious personal issues and even more serious health problems - - things which are so bad that I wouldn't dare reveal them on a public blog.

I try to ignore the worst and desperately dig through the mire to find reasonably tolerable things to write about. It isn't easy.  I'm not very adept at feigning normalcy when I'm enmeshed in the depths of severe depression. But I plod on.....

....but I've said enough. Or, more likely, too much. Where can I possibly take you, after such a dismal beginning?

How about this crazy weather?
Last week when I drove to town it was 30 degrees (Fahrenheit) and there was ice on the windshield. Two days later, on Christmas Eve, the temperature soared to a balmy 65 degrees.

This final week of the year was unseasonably warm with high winds one day and torrential rain the next. Severe storms are predicted to usher in the New Year along with a drastic temperature drop.
I'm not looking forward to bad weather...nor another year.

So, what will I be doing on New Year's Eve? Nothing much. Exchanging emails and texts with a few faraway friends. And partying with my cats.
It's a heckuva lot different from long-ago New Year's Eves - when I used to cook elaborate meals that took days to prepare, and bake wonderful pies, cakes, and cookies. When I actually looked forward to a new year with (cautious) optimism.
The good memories haunt me.

And now? The illusion that somehow things will get better no longer exists.
"Cautious" is the key word. Diehard pessimists are notoriously cautious.

So, what about this New Year's Eve? I was initially going to make a roast, but I'll save it for next week. Instead, I plan to have a quasi-smorgasbord - - sausage, cheese, egg rolls, pickled eggs, smoked oysters, potato pancakes..... homemade wine.

I took some photos this final week of the year. Nothing exciting. Just the same old views outside around the house.

Dawn on a windswept morning a few days ago

The cluster of tall trees by my house....and the horrible gap where several of them blew down during the tornadic storm a few weeks ago.

A misty, balmy, surrealistic evening on Dec. 29th. Silhouette of nearby hills, as seen from the front porch.
 

Various views from my front "yard", taken late yesterday afternoon Dec. 30th

 

Why the hell would anyone want to see me? Photo taken last month. I set the ten second timer on my El Cheapo digital camera - then  ran like a bunny, sat on the porch swing, and tried to look pretty. NOT an easy task....

I think my cat Kitzee got into the homemade wine....(*smile*)

 

NEW YEAR'S EVE

 

I think it would be highly appropriate to have a New Year's Eve masked ball. No close dancing, of course. Absolutely no tete-a-tetes. Conversations will be conducted from across the room. With a megaphone.
And no sentimental tidings for a happy and blessed new year, because it won't be happy or blessed. Next year at this time we'll all be wearing iron masks, with balls and chains around our ankles.

I'm not trying to be a spoilsport. I'm preparing you for reality.

But we can secretly hope for a joyful, healthy, prosperous 2021. We can dream, can't we?

The Christmas snow has vanished, replaced by endless rain and ravaging dampness. This final day of the year is wet, chilly, and raw with shivery fog and wandering mists.

New Year's Eve used to be a very special time for me. I'd spend days in advance preparing elaborate things to eat. Cooking, baking, making certain everything was perfect for my guests.

Things have drastically changed in recent years. On my swift and inevitable free fall into the realms of Hell, my enthusiasm for everything has dwindled.

I wholeheartedly wish I could reverse the passing years and once again embrace the good times.

This year I haven't even planned a New Year's Eve dinner. I was initially going to make a roast in the slow cooker, but I have too many leftovers that I don't want to go to waste.

Last night I made a quick hodgepodge soup - with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and leftover ham. It's surprisingly good.

Late tonight I'll have leftover roasted chicken, baked beans, deviled eggs, creamed corn, and whatever else I can find. I also have a huge pumpkin pie.

Beverages? Ginger ale, homemade wine (with a helluva kick) and coffee or tea.

I'm not in a celebratory mood, but I'm thankful for what I have.

And I'm greatful for all the kind people who care, and those who've dared to visit my humble blog over the years.

In case you want to hear Guy Lombardo's classic rendition of Auld Lang Syne, here's a video I made last year (I revised it slightly for this year).

I might write again later tonight, if I don't fall asleep. It's presently only about 5:30 p.m.

I hope your New Year's Eve will be a very pleasant one.    Hugs, Jon

 

WEIRD NEW YEAR'S EVE

It's not officially New Year's Eve yet. It is late afternoon around 4:30 p.m. - dark as night and pouring rain.

Today was weird. Strange.  
Unseasonably warm. 65 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, for those of you in the Hebrides). Cloudy, misty, with an eerie wind.

I got up early - thanks to my annoying cat Bosco who leaped onto my stomach while I was sound asleep, rudely rousing me from Dreamland, and nearly causing serious bodily injury (he's a damn heavy cat).

After I recovered sufficiently enough to crawl out of bed, I did my usual morning routine of feeding the cats and cleaning the litter boxes. Then I washed some clothes and hung them outside to dry (since my clothes dryer is kaput).

This final day of the year had a surrealistic aura about it. I decided to capture the aura with my El Cheapo camera - but the photos are merely bland and colorless.
For one brief moment, the feeble sun tried to break through the clouds but failed.

The photos that I posted were all taken around 10 o'clock this morning - and they are all in "color".

Since it's New Year's Eve, I plan to have a very late dinner tonight.
At around noon I decided to make some lunch. I normally never ever eat lunch, but I didn't want to get hungry while waiting for my intended late dinner.

So, I made a huge delicious sandwich - with Italian bread, hard salami, Black Forest ham, and Swiss cheese.
 I sat down and was JUST going to bite into it -
when I suddenly heard LOUD screeching, grinding, and banging right outside the house.

It scared the living jeeters out of me - since I live in the friggin' middle of nowhere and never have any interruptions (except when cats leap on me when I'm sleeping).

My heart was racing and I felt faint - expecting some sort of mega wilderness catastrophe.
When I looked outside, there were trucks and motorized contraptions plowing across the front of my property.

 One of the contraptions, as seen from my window

I instantly recognized them as the same county workers that were in this area a few weeks ago, trimming tree branches from power lines.

They made an unholy racket for nearly four hours, but finally left when it started to rain.

I'm actually glad they're trimming branches way out here - - but it did extract some of the fun out of my Italian sandwich.

That's the extent of my exciting New Year's Eve so far.
I'm going to take a brief nap. Then I'll (hopefully) enjoy my late dinner and the rest of New Year's Eve.

2015 Day One

The New Year's Eve moon

rising above trees in my back yard.

Quiet. Reflective. Uneventful. Solitudinous.
That sums up my New Year's Eve.

My Spell Check just informed me that there's no such word as solitudinous. I beg to disagree.

It is difficult for me to believe that I've actually left West Texas behind. I still occasionally hear the screaming winds and taste the thick dust and feel the parched, arid air, and look in my boots for scorpions before putting them on.

Then - just to reassure myself - I look out any one of my windows and see mountain views. Tall trees. Wilderness. I hear the incredible silence. I inhale fresh, pure air. And I know I'm in a different place.

This was the most quiet New Year's Eve I ever remember. Absolutely no one around, but me and the trio of cats. When I ventured outside after dark I could hear only the sounds of distant animals echoing through the canyons. Coyotes and wild dogs, neighboring cows and horses. An owl now and then. It was crystal clear and very cold-- 17 degrees.

New Year's Eve was thoroughly enjoyable - despite the fact that I'm still living in an empty house. For now, the laptop is my only source of entertainment - and my cell phone is my unwanted but vital connection to civilization.
I'm uncharacteristically content.

I've lived a wild, exciting, and turbulent life. I've done more things than I'd ever care to remember. Or reveal. Yet I love this newly found isolation.

You're getting old, Jon, that's what it is. Admit it.

Bullshit.

I snapped a few New Year's Eve photos with my cell phone camera. The picture resolution is poor. I have an El Cheapo Tracfone  LG305C which doesn't transfer photos to a computer. I have to email them to myself and then upload them to a photo file. I'm a quill pen, scroll, and candlelight kind of guy. Modern technology  simultaneously baffles and annoys me.

Anyway, here are token souviners of my Mountain New Year's Eve.

The last sunset of 2014

 

 

 



My tiny, impromptu Christmas tree

on New Year's Eve

 

 

The tree from my kitchen window

 

 

 

The setting moon

from my living room window

(it looked much more impressive in real)

 

But Jon - - don't you have any curtains on your windows?

 

Hey, I'm in the middle of nowhere. Who's gonna see me? Big Foot?

I eventually plan on putting up wooden blinds (the same kind I had in Texas). Curtains annoy me.

 

 

I truly hope all of my blog friends and anonymous readers have an incredible 2015 - - filled with contentment, joyous discoveries, good health, warm memories, love, and peace from within.      Jon



Here's an excellent New Year's Day blog post from my Blogger friend Tony in Los Angeles. His insight is always worth reading.

http://leavingcaliblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/happy-new-year-faggot.html