Ready Set Go

For the past few years we have gone dancing with the same group of folks on New Year’s Eve every year. I wanted to do something different this year. 2014 will be a year of change for me so why put it off, why not get started? Bring it on. We did something different alright. We drove into the boonies to a little get-together and got lost down a dirt road and nearly ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. But just about when things got a bit sketchy, we found our way to our destination (and we made it back to town afterward on the gas left in the tank). There’s probably a lesson for the coming year in that scenario somewhere. Remind me to look for it.

Our NYE event was a group of old folks chatting (but old folks have good stories). The big excitement for the evening occurred when everyone retired to the sitting area to engage in what they called “felting,” which I had never heard of. The felters proceeded to continuously poke wads of fabric with needles and somehow produce little fuzzy fabric animals this way. The process vaguely resembled the production of voo-doo dolls. They invited me to felt with them, but I declined. I preferred to eat potato chips dipped in hot sauce. The hot sauce was extremely good and there was almost nothing in the way of food that I could eat since it all had gluten or meat in it. I never eat potato chips because they make me fat, so I quite enjoyed the indulgence. Did I already say the hot sauce was extremely good? The hot sauce was definitely more stimulating than felting (unless of course you are the fuzzy animal being needle-poked, I suppose).

The house itself was enchanting. It was loaded with the most marvelous art work. A feast for the eyes. I know my hostess quite well but I had not yet had the pleasure of speaking with her relatively new live-in boyfriend. He explained to me how they soaked and ground acorns to make an acorn meal that they add to breads and pancakes. I was fascinated since I just read The Education of Little Tree in which much acorn meal is eaten and it sounded tasty. I want to try making acorn meal sometime, but not this year because I have too much on my plate for 2014 to find the time to crack acorns, although heaven knows I have enough of them in my yard. (Maybe I can dupe some squirrels into cracking them for me.) I find it comforting that I have learned how to convert acorns into food, just in case all the systems collapse in 2014 and I have to forage for edibles in my yard. Could happen. We seem to be going to hell in a hand-basket, as they say.

I could have gone for some dancing on NYE. But no dancing happened at this gathering, which I suppose was just as well since Ron can’t dance right now (he’s still recovering from foot sores on his left foot). However, the entire odd assortment of people in the house bundled up at midnight and we went outside to bring in 2014 with some fanfare. We blew shofars, hooted, howled, banged on pots, and beat a rhythm on an array of percussion instruments. The clear sky burst at the seams with a wild abundance of stars (since we were so far from any light pollution emitted by city illumination). It has been many years since we left the Ranch and I tend to forget what the night sky looks like when no lights bleed into it from Earth. It looks, well, heavenly. At midnight I kissed my husband under the bazillion stars. I am grateful that we are still here and still do that together.

My resolution for the coming year is simply to get all the things done that I need to do. I don’t have time to list them since there are so many. If I had the time to list everything I have to do in 2014, I would have the time to crack acorns. At midnight under the stars on NYE, after I kissed my husband, I thought:  Ready, Set, Go. I’ll be running now until next NYE. No time for acorns or felting.