Every January first when I was a small child, I would get upset at the turning of the calender, and cry about how much I liked LAST YEAR, that it was so much nicer than this year can ever be, how can it be a new year already, etc.  Now I look back and wonder how a very small child of four or five or six could be so perturbed by time's quick passage.  I seem to have the innate sensibilities of the elderly when it comes to time.  It is, nevertheless, reassuring to observe that my nostalgic impulses have always been present.

I still feel the same at the turn of the year, but I've come to like New Year's anyway.  It's not the parties - December 31st is the worst night to go out.  Everyone is out drunk and clumsy on the streets and it's just not much fun.  Instead I prefer to stay more or less sober, and enjoy the feeling of January 1st.  It really does feel special and clean and new on that day.  It's become a bit of a tradition for me to go for a New Year's walk, revel in my lack of hangover, and maybe come up with some resolutions.

This year suited me perfectly.  My boyfriend and I went to a party hosted by a friend who does not drink, so it was fun to stick to saft and Pommac and stay sober in solidarity with our host.  The next day we watched the New Year's concert from Vienna with a champagne breakfast served by my boyfriend's parents.  In the afternoon we watched Fanny and Alexander.  (What a feeling to watch it without subtitles!)

As for resolutions, I made quite a few.  I was inspired by this, Woody Guthrie's excellent list of resolutions from 1942. Some of them center on increasing my environmental responsibility: Eat vegetarian at least two times a week (which I generally do anyway, but it feels good to have it as a commitment); refrain from buying new clothes - only second-hand or self-sewn; use what you have - no buying new books, fabric, etc until I use what I have at home.  Others are fun: to make time to see my friends in Toronto more often and to learn the banjo.  The one I'm having the worst trouble with so far is number 3: Do the dishes! I really am the worst about leaving them to the side and letting someone else pick up after me.  My favourite is number 9: raise chickens.  This is presenting a bit of a logistics challenge as I will likely be away from home for three months over the summer, but I do so want my own hens.  My dad had his own chickens when he lived in the countryside during the 70s and I think now, when I'm living at home, is the perfect time for him to show me how to keep hens. 

I think I'm going to have more luck with these resolutions than I did last year, when I resolved never to ever do anything I will ever come to regret.  What about you, dear imaginary readers? Have you made some resolutions?

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