Carousel, Champaign, IL
Life is like a merry-go-round.
Sometimes it seems to go in circles. There are ups and downs, usually not lasting too long.
Sometimes life is exhilarating, accompanied by squeals of delight. Other times it can be terrifying, bringing on tears.
If you’re lucky, music travels with you on the journey. And bright colors, lights, and mirrors decorate your way.
Sometimes life, like a carousel, stops. People get on; others get off.
You get to make choices about some things, like which critter you’re going to ride.
But you don’t get to choose who goes along with you. Many are strangers; some are friends or relatives. Some stick around for a while; others enter and leave our lives after brief periods.
Sometimes life seems to go very fast, like when everything good happens at once, and you can hardly believe it’s for real.
Other times, it drags. They call those “wasteland experiences.” And while they’re not usually FUN, they provide learning we can’t get any other way.
One year blends right into another, despite our attempts to mark a year’s passing with festivities and traditions.
The same thing happens with birthdays.
How often do people ask you, “Do you feel a year older?” when your birthday rolls around?
Maybe you do; more likely, you have to admit, “No.” If the calendar didn’t tell you what day it was, you might not even realize another year had gone by!
New Year’s Day celebrations around here are pretty low key.
We traditionally eat a Southern dinner of black-eyed peas, rice, cabbage, and cornbread. We watch a lot of football. Maybe catch a nap on the sofa.
When I was in the newspaper business, I generally worked on New Year’s Day. I didn’t mind much, but I’m glad to be running my own show these days.
However you choose to ring in 2014, please stay safe and sensible. May all your fondest wishes come true. Thanks for coming along with me in 2013 — see you in the new year. Love y’all!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
So True…well said 🙂 Happiest New Year !
Thank you, Morgan. I hope 2014 is good to you!
Debbie, your New Year’s celebration sounds perfect. I’m all for naps on couches. Here’s to a great year!
Monica, I’m glad we met in the Blogosphere, and I look forward to sharing life stories with you in the new year!
Debbie, my friend, I can’t tell you HOW MUCH I enjoyed reading this post!
I LOVE your analogy to life being like a merry-go-round. That was BRILLIANT!
“Sometimes it seems to go in circles. There are ups and downs, usually not lasting too long.
Sometimes life is exhilarating, accompanied by squeals of delight. Other times it can be terrifying, bringing on tears.
And while they’re not usually FUN, they provide learning we can’t get any other way.”
How true that is! And it’s all part of life, isn’t it?
Hey, you’re New Year’s Day dinner sounds yummy. I used be friends with a married couple when I lived in Florida, who were originally from the south. And she would cook the most amazing southern dinners on Sundays, and would often invite me. I LOVE southern food!
Wishing you a fabulously Happy New Year! I’m so glad we met this year, and I look forward to blogging with you in 2014!
Cheers and X!
Ron, Southern women just have a knack for cooking. Perhaps it’s passed on from one generation to the next, or maybe it’s just in the genes!
Thanks for your lovely words. I’m so glad I clicked over to your blog (from Suzicate’s, I think). Here’s hoping your new year will be simply FABULOUS!
I couldn’t read this and not think of Joni Mitchell’s great Circle Song. I do love the New Year – even more than my birthday. I don’t know why, precisely. I think it’s the sense of possibility – a fresh start, an encouragement to reflect.
I’m not a party gal, though. I can’t think of anything more ghastly than spending the night in Times Square – or even downtown Anywhere. So quiet and low profile’s for me, too – not to mention the black-eyed peas and cabbage! I’m not superstitious, but there’s no sense taking a chance and NOT eating them, now is there?
Happy New Year!
I love the idea of a new year, a clean slate, a chance to get right what didn’t work before. Yes, the possibility is wide open — the typical ads depicting a brand new baby alongside the bent old, grizzled man, show that.
What I don’t appreciate are the noisy fireworks, the banging on pans, the hoopla. I’m with you — no party here (and you said it so eloquently – “ghastly”!)
The traditional New Year’s feast isn’t high on my favorite list (poor Domer thinks it’s awful, ha!), but like you, I refuse to tempt Fate. Make yours a splendid one!
Happy New Year. We will eat our black eye peas, too. Glad you will be a part of my New Year! And perhaps we will even sit on that park bench…..
I hope you have less grief getting Cole to eat black-eyed peas than I do with Domer. He thinks that just might be his LEAST favorite meal of the entire year!
You know, after all this wretched snow goes away, perhaps I could consider a road trip. I’d love a chance to chat face-to-face, ride in the June Bug, watch you do a photo shoot with the campers. And wouldn’t it be grand if we could get some other closer bloggers to join us?! We’d ALL have lots of photos and stories to share, enough for at least a couple of posts.
Hope your 2014 is GRAND!
We all have our different memories with 2013 & now it’s going to say Good Bye forever for 2013. So I will always miss this 2013 😦 in my life.
Hi, and Welcome! You’re so right — once 2013 is gone, we’ll never capture it again (except in memories!). Here’s hoping the new year will bring you happiness and more good memories!
Great analogy. Life does sometimes seem like a carousel!
I’m not really into “ringing in the new year.” We definitely don’t go out. My husband picked up some extra hours at work tomorrow, so he’ll be in bed early. Maybe the boys and I will stay up later than normal and snack on some popcorn or something 🙂
I hope you enjoy your Southern meal and have a relaxing new year!
I suspect more than a few of the neighbors will ring in the new year with firecrackers and such — only serving to annoy my Sheltie and me!! To each his own, I say. What sounds like fun (a quiet celebration) to me probably sounds like an old fogy to the next person! Happy New Year, Janna, however you choose to celebrate!
Debbie, I loved reading this! Life IS like a merry-go-round, people popping into your life and then out. Your feast with cornbread sounds yummy. Normally we sleep right through New Year’s Eve like a couple of old fogies, but this year we’re in Venice and we’ll soon be in St. Mark’s Square for the fireworks. I cannot wait! Happy New Year to you and yours–may all your dreams come true.
Sometimes it’s good to ring in the new year with a real celebration — glad you’re going to give that a go, Jann. Thanks for popping into my little corner of the world, and all the best to you and yours in 2014!
The merry-go-round is a great analogy for life and the passing years. So true, Debbie. I hope the coming year is full of more ups than downs for you and yours.
It was a quiet New Year’s Eve around here, and more of the same for New Year’s Day. Happy New Year to you!
Thanks, Terri. Glad to know I’m not the only one who kept the celebrating to a minimum! Happy New Year to you and your family — should be an interesting 2014 all around!
***If you’re lucky, music travels with you on the journey. And bright colors, lights, and mirrors decorate your way.**
I like that sentence.
insightful post, Debbie. Much love to you, dear. Xxx
Thank you, Kim. It’s rewarding to hear that something you’ve written touches another’s soul! Happy New Year with love!