First Day of the New Year

Today I could smell and see the newness of the day, the first day of 2008. The sun is up ("buen dia," as my host mother would call it) and the sky is clear blue with patches of white clouds. Mcgoo and Roxy (two resident dogs) are playing outside, running after each other, unoblivious of the new year. Or do they know that it is new year?

The human celebration the night before this day was festive and extravagant. With parties, fireworks and firecrackers, new year's eve has become one of the most awaited and anticipated day of the year. It bridges a year to a new year.

What is in a new year then? For most of us, it is change. It is changing the way we fill in the dates in the application or other forms. It can also be a start. It is starting a new chapter year by year marked by milestones, failures, successes and achievements of each year. Each milestone, failure, success and achievement is a signposts in our journey for a better year this year. It offers a new sense of hope and enchantment of life. New year can mean an end too. It is ending a past that needs to be buried and get over with to be able to see and experience the promise and wonder of the new year. Or it can be a continuation of the past unfinished and unresolved. New year may not mean starting with a clean slate. There may be necessary carry-over of the past year.

For Mcgoo and Roxy, the first day of the new year seems to be just another day. Why care about this day when they can enjoy each other's companionship, the warmth of the sun, and the swishing of grasses and shrubs when they pass through them? They don't even care if I am watching them and writing something about them. What is a new year especially its first day?

Today is a day, a change, a start, an end, or a continuation. Who cares? I feel like going outside, playing with Mcgoo and Roxy, running after or with them. This is simply another day. I do not want to miss this day pondering on human question and interest of the essence of the new year. There is so much to be done for the new year, and one of those is to have fun with the dogs which may have their own calendar.