Can't party like no tomorrow after so many yesterdays
By Brent E. McCoy thereal@adelphia.net

Well, we made it through another year.

I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday even thought on Christmas the weather outside was frightful, but this year there were no fires and that was delightful.

2007 is now a memory. I hope that it is a happy memory and I think that 2008 will be even better. I always think that the next year will be better. I usually hope that the next month, the next week, and the next day will be better. This is mostly because today usually isn't going so well. But heck, if I can wake up the next day, I'm that much ahead of the game.

Christmas is the holiday that I celebrate and it will always be a magical time to me. I loved getting up early to watch as the kids opened their gifts. We still get up early on Christmas morning but now it's because the kids have other folks to share the day with and let's face it, the loot Santa leaves teenagers just isn't as cool as the stuff he leaves when you're little.

New Years Eve, on the other hand, just isn't what it used to be.

I don't think that Moorpark is often referred to as a party town. If it is, it is probably in reference to all of the kid's birthday parties and not to late night revelry.

I used to be a big fan of late night revelry. Even on our usually quiet little street here in Moorpark, we would always have a party on New Year's Eve. The grown ups would do the usual grown up stuff (in moderation) and the children generally ran amok (not in moderation) until the appointed hour. The party would usually break up around 1 or 1:30 on the morning of New Year's Day.

After a few years of this, the parties began to wrap up a little earlier around 12:30 in the morning on New Year's Day. The grown ups were tired and the kids had other things to do.

Ten years ago, we would count the minutes and anxiously wait until it was time to ring in the New Year. We would look at our watches and marvel at how fast midnight was approaching. I sensed the tide was turning when, a few years ago, some one looked at his watch and remarked, "Oh no! We still have two hours to go." The kids, who by now had their driver's licenses, were long gone. But they weren't allowed to leave before each of them had received the lecture about how dangerous it is to drive on New Year's Eve. They were reminded to check in often. It's no wonder they left.

The following year someone suggested that we just set the clocks ahead, watch the replay from the east coast and call it a night. We almost took him up on it.

After another couple of years, I think we were all headed home by the time the ball reached the bottom and most of us were sound asleep before the T.V. gang got back from the commercial break.

I mentioned in an earlier column that some of this has to do with the fact that as you get older, a year consumes less of your lifetime. When you are four, it takes 25 percent of your life for one year to pass. By the time you're 50, a year only consumes two percent of your life and, hopefully, this percentage will continue to decrease for along time to come.

There is one other thing that takes a little excitement out of New Year's Eve. I've been keeping track for a good many years and I now feel confident that the Earth will make it around the sun on a regular basis. I have to admit that Y2K was a little iffy but once we realized that everyone on the east coast made it through, we were all able to relax.

Regardless of what percentage of your life it will take to get to 2009, I hope we all make it a good year.