Happy New Year!

I have a good feeling about this year. I spent this New Year’s Eve on my own, but it turned out to be a really nice evening. At sunset I sat by the pool with a journal and pen and thought about the upcoming year, and what I’d like to make happen. I decided I want to work on fostering some positive habits and focus on a select few goals- just first steps, not everything all at once. 

Then as I was heading back upstairs to the apartment, I saw all these pastel party balloons drifting randomly along the patio. I went back downstairs to gather them up, thinking they had escaped from somewhere and worrying about litter and animals dying of obstructed intestines. It turned out that a couple living in the adjacent building of my complex were dropping balloons off the balcony to make things look festive and to foster a spirit of community. So, I relunctantly let the balloons be and took only one back up to my apartment. I met the couple and shared a few beers- it was nice to meet some of my neighbors. And then I tidied and organized- got things in order inside the apartment and texted with a friend on the west coast.

At 11:30, I rolled out to check out the firework display down at Aloha Tower. It turned out to be one of the nicest firework displays I have seen in ages. Never in my 10 and a half years in Chicago had I gone downtown to watch the New Year’s fireworks. There is something to be said for a 70° evening to encourage ushering in of the new year- I stood and watched fireworks in a t-shirt. There was very little wind and I wasn’t too far from the barge, so even though I didn’t pay to get onto the end of the pier, I had a fantastic view of the fireworks being shot up over the water. This year I saw a new kind of firework that I hadn’t ever seen before- bundles of sparks that hover in the air, and take forever to settle. Very odd looking. My favorite fireworks of the evening were these rainbow bursts, in light colors that it looked like a bunch of Funfetti. Just behind the bursts these spiral whistlers would go off. It really was reminiscent of a Funfetti cake with golden candles, or party horns busting in just a split second behind- very festive indeed. There were also the best big salutes ever! I love to feel those bangs reverberate in my chest. And at the end of the finale, one whole section of the sky was filled with willows that faded into streams of golden glitter- so many of them. It was simply gorgeous.

There must have been plenty of fireworks and firecrackers in my neighborhood as well, because when I got home the air was hazy with smoke and you could taste the gunpowder on your tongue. Two hours later, the occasional boom is still puncturing the night. It really was a good feeling to be out and welcoming the new year. It felt really right. I feel happy! Hoorah 2012!