AS WE BEGIN ANOTHER TRIP AROUND THE SUN...

Wow, it’s January One^th again, the beginning of a whole new year. Of course all it means is flipping one digit, but we all do it together and it makes us think about what happened during the past year and what might happen during the next; sort of a universal birthday. For some, birthdays are not a happy analogy, but at the very least they mean you made it through another year. Some folks didn’t make it through last year, so I think we have every reason to celebrate the simple fact that we are experiencing the first day of 2012.

On the downside, however, they tell me the world’s going to end this year. As noted in the previous paragraph, for some it will, but this more general apocalyptic vision is based on the notion that the Mayan calendar runs out on December 21. Of course this is bad news for everyone who’s sill on the old Mayan calendar, but it’s not the end of the world. There must be a free download somewhere out there. But there’s also the fact that, on this date, the earth, the sun, and the centre of our galaxy will be exactly aligned. NASA says this happens every year in late December, while the current soothsayers figure it only happens every 26,000 years. But the way I see it, regardless who you believe, we’ve been through all this before and we’re still here. I think we can all plan to celebrate Christmas again this year.

And did you know...

The Scots used to have a custom of paying all their debts by December 31 to avoid carrying them into the new year. Great idea, but all they got for this is mocked and ridiculed for being cheap. It’s nice when people pay their debts, but better when they owe you money and pay the minimum plus an exorbitant rate of interest. But, not to worry, this Scottish custom isn’t coming back any time soon, even among the Scots.

And the Scots (specifically Robert Burns in 1796) also came up with "Auld Lang Syne", a song everyone sings and no one really understands. It seems, however, to have something to do with remembering people fondly so I’m in favour. And it was the Canadian dance band, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, who made the song a New Year’s tradition throughout the world. Beauty eh?

And the Scots also had a tradition they called “first footing” where they would go out and call on all their neighbours immediately after midnight. Unfortunately it fell out of favour in most Scottish communities because so few people were home.

Hope you’re having a great year so far. If you meet and Scots along the way give ’em a hug. Three good New Year’s ideas out of that little nation ain’t bad, even if one’s unintelligible and the other two are impractical.

As we get closer to December 21 and the next episode of There’s No Tomorrow I’m sure we’ll all have more to say. In the meantime, if you run across any ancient Mayans, tell ’em “Thanks for nothin’”.

H a p p y N e w Y e a r ! ! !