Published: January 06, 2010 01:14 pm      

In These Otsego Hills: Events not to be repeated

At the end of each year we tend to become somewhat reflective about the previous twelve months, making note of those events which we hope to see repeated in the year ahead.

This year, however, we are making note of those 2009 events which we hope to not see repeated in 2010.

For example, we would prefer that 2010 present us with better weather. To say that the weather in 2009 was not to our liking would be an understatement. In fact, for whatever bizarre reason, we think November’s weather was the best of the year. And that would seem to be a sad state of affairs.

We also hope that 2010 does not find us in complete melt down when it come to writing this column. In 2009 we missed penning a piece for six weeks, namely May 13, 21and 28 as well as June 4, 11 and 18. And we have to say we can’t decide who missed the column the most, our readers who missed reading it or us who missed writing it. We have great hopes that we will be better able to stay on top of things in 2010. And, of course, we are indeed upset with ourselves in that by not writing the column for six weeks, we ruined an extremely long record of not missing a week in more years than we care to admit.

And we sincerely hope that we do not lose so many dear friends in 2010 as we did in 2009. Our life is poorer for having lost Donny Reed, Dorothy Chase and Bill Hermann. We will find it hard to ever replace much of the carpeting in our home. We will miss the weekly lunches. And we will most certainly miss the e-mails and not, we might add, just the ones with all the jokes that we can’t share in this column.

We will also miss the ones with bits of history such as the one we came across when cleaning up our inbox. In talking about the expression ``Go Fly a Kite,’’ it read, in part, ``The origin of this expression is believed to have originated with the people trying to construct a bridge across the river at Niagara Falls where the current is very swift and dangerous. Issue — How to get a cable across that river. One man figured out how. He thought, if you could get a string across, a rope then a cable could follow.

So he flew a kite across the river! It worked!! Then followed the expression.

``How do you get a cable across Niagara Falls? Go fly a kite!’’

Also on our list is an inpatient stay at Bassett and finding ourselves unable to drive because of a drop foot. Both of these items are definitely on our never to do again list as is not having water flowing through our basement in a matter akin to Niagara Falls.

We would also like to spend less time wondering what all the various posts on Facebook really mean. We spent much too much time musing about the one which read: ``On my way to the Phillies Game last night (which they lost!), I was behind a 12’ box truck from Delilah’s Gentlemans’ Club.

Why does a strip club need a truck? And we also hope, as we peruse Facebook, to be able to ignore what we consider to be slaps against something near and dear to us, such as Upper Pioneer Street.

But, the 2009 event which we most hope we will not repeat in 2010 was turning the unthinkable age of 62. For some reason 62 really bothered us. It seemed as if we were now older than dirt which we must suppose is not terribly comforting to those 63 and over. We can not ever remember dreading a birthday more. It simply did not seem possible as we still think of ourselves as being youthful, if not childish by spells. Mentally we are stuck at 29, an illusion which we must admit evaporates when we move. Unfortunately, we can no longer convince ourselves that we are physically 29, or even 39, 49 or 59. When it comes to moving, we think we are probably closer to 109. It is indeed a dichotomy.

And it is a dichotomy that we suspect we will, unfortunately, continue to encounter in 2010 In closing, as we head full speed into the new year, we would like to share, as our quote of the week, something we received in an e-mail this past year from a dear friend. It is something which we most definitely wish to carry over into 2010. Unfortunately, we do not know the author who wrote: ``May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.’’ As we head into 2010, we thank the author for writing and our friend for sharing this week’s quote.

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