I don't think it really needs to be said that I did not stay up until midnight last night, though I was awakened by a barrage of fireworks. They didn't last too long, though, and I was soon back in dreamland.
I woke up bright and early this morning facing a new day and a new year full of potential....nah. All New Year's Day means to me is that my vacation is almost over and I'll have to go back to work soon. At least this year, we don't have to go back until the 5th, so I have a few more days at least.
January always feels a bit glum to me, and it's not really that surprising. I mean, I usually put my Fall decorations out over Labor Day weekend, so I have all of September, October, November, and December full of beauty and lights and then in January, you take it all down and the world just deems gray and dim by comparison.
Then Spring comes...
That being said, I brought my boxes in from the shed and started taking my Christmas decorations down. I took all of the outside stuff down and packed it away for the year, and I'm slowly working the inside stuff down as well. I had to keep reminding myself I've got all weekend to do it, and don't have to rush to get it all down today.
I think that comes from my childhood experiences. We always put the tree and all the decorations up on a Saturday morning, then took them down the day we had to go back to school, and it only took a couple of hours and I feel like I should do the same. But then, we had six pairs of hands doing it back then. These days, I have to do it all by myself.
Plus, this year, I'm considering seriously culling quite a few of my decorations that I don't put out or have gotten tired of. Or stuff that was given to me that I never really liked, but kept because I felt guilty wanting to get rid of it...but don't tell anyone, and they'll never know.
By the way, I did not put the new strings of lights on my tree. You know, the ones I'd bought to replace those that got chewed by rats or whatever it was. I'll do that next year, probably kicking myself for not going ahead and doing it now.
Anyway, I woke up early enough I was able to watch two episodes of season 6 of Miss Scarlett -- it used to be Miss Scarlett and The Duke, until The Duke left the show-- on PBS because I have the Passport and am too impatient to wait for it to come on TV before the parade came on. I managed to catch a somewhat blurry photo of the Mississippi float, but it was difficult because of the raindrops on the camera lens.
Their camera, not mine. It was raining pretty hard there for a while, but slacked off a bit by the time the parade started. I was pleasantly surprised to see Grenada native Charlie Worsham on the float, because I had no idea he'd be there. He sang Rainbow Connection, then a song about Mississippi and I wonder if he wrote that one himself, because he does write some of his own music. A few years ago, he even acted in an episode of Bones, playing a murdered country music singer. Hang on, let me find it...
Ah yes, season 9 episode 13: Big In The Philippines.
OK, moving right along...heh, see what I did there? Well, if you've never seen The Muppet Movie, you won't, but um...moving right along...I got out my last (I think) home made fruit cake and sliced it for breakfast while I was watching the parade. There might still be one in the deep freeze, but I don't know for sure.
I think fruitcake gets a bad rap, especially from people who've never even tried it. I'm sure part of that is because when they hear the word cake, they think of something light and fluffy like a wedding cake, which fruitcake is definitely not. It was developed in ancient times as a way to preserve fruit, which made it naturally dense and heavy. It may have evolved from ancient Roman military rations called satura, which is barley mash, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins, mixed together with honeyed wine. Of course, Rome conquered England, so they probably brought it with them and eventually it developed into the holiday treat we have today.
Now that you know more than you ever wanted to about fruitcake, you really should give it a chance. Fair warning, though, the store bought versions can be a crap shoot. I'd always had homemade fruitcake, so that's what I liked. One year, when I was in the Navy, I bought one and it was awful. I said, "Ugh, no wonder people don't like this stuff!" But the little Claxton Fruit Cakes that I buy are pretty good.
While I was watching the parade and snacking on fruitcake, I finished the hat I was working on.
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes
Colorway: Crayon Box
Pattern: Basic Beanie
Needles: US 8 / 5 mm
Then, while watching Texas Tech and Alabama get absolutely stomped in their playoff games and wondering who on earth chose them over Texas -- who won 41-27 over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl-- I cast on another one.
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes
Colorway: Pink Lemonade
Pattern: Basic Beanie
Needles: US 8 / 5 mm
I do like to send a few in more feminine colors from time to time, because women work on ships, too. I'm sure at least some of them would be happy to get something that looks a little more girly. And men can wear pink, too. Ain't no shame in that.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, here is your meme of the day:
I wish you all a very blessed and prosperous 2026.
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