The Year is Still New

As far as I'm concerned, it is still a new year, only a couple of weeks old. 

Invariably the last few years my husband couldn't force himself to stay awake or has just chosen to fall asleep around 10:00 on New Year's Eve.  Because of that, it is relatively quiet around here while I sit at my computer by the window. 

I joke that people who live here at the lakes seem to like to 'burn money'. It happens on the fourth of July and again at the new year. Pretty close to midnight, the fireworks start. This year, the only ones I heard were directly across the lake from us to the south, where I've seen them the last few years. Generally more groups do it, but this year it was only from that one house that I saw the bursts of sparkles  and heard the loud bangs.

Not only were there fewer this year, but they were mostly white. Yet, I still enjoyed the show and 

celebrated the coming of 2017...just me and our little dog, Maggie, who has grown to understand they are not a threat.

On a different note, I have been blessed knowing that those loved ones who have passed away in my family are now in heaven. Because of that knowledge, I have not really mourned their passing. I have missed them, but I haven't grieved. I hadn't even kept the dates in my head. However this evening, I began thinking about my dad, knowing that he left this earth in January on 2002. I got out my photo albums and realized it was on this day, January the 15th, 2002. It brought back sad thoughts and comforting ones as well. One of the sad things: our youngest son came home from college for the funeral, which was on his birthday, January 19, 2002.