Well, that was the moment it all came rushing down a stairwell and began to pool ominously at the bottom of the ladder. The liquid level varied, of course, as it sloshed back and forth. It was nearly the moment for the Big Change at the end of an old year. We had been saving the century-old term for safekeeping, and tried not to mix up our memories of what we thought about the Twenties.

We never thought we would be floating along in a decade with so many echoes in it. That with no disrespect to the senior members of the family who had ACTUALLY lived the experience of dramatic change. Both the men who headed their families passed early, lasting only through the start of the War years that changed everything for everyone.

Or at least many of us. This is currently the 365th day of this year, and we can almost see the starting one flickering toward our group from the nearing middle-distance.

it will change tonight at midnight, or so they tell us. That will be a relief for many of us. We are familiar with the eye rolling that goes along with the events of 2019-23. We won’t delve into it, since all of us have some version of the lunacy to keep tucked away in some unobtrusive place. It is a simple modification in speech. We used to say innocuous phrases meaning nothing in particular- “Great to see you!” or “Hope to see you again soon!”

Which has subtly altered into other modes of address. Splash has got it down to just a couple of words in his farewells: “Be Safe!”

We have adopted that as a standard catchword here on The Patio at big Pink. There are two kinetic conflicts in progress now. Russian forces launched more than a hundred missiles at the Ukrainians to close out the week. The Ukrainians had successfully sunk a Ropuchka-Class landing ship in Crimera a few days before. So that squabble, nearing two years in duration, continues to percolate along. The Kinetics of more recent vintage are still happening in Gaza, and have stirred up far more emotion than the conflict in Eastern Europe.

There is also a third one that has not been fully articulated. Iranian proxy fighters have conducted more than a hundred attacks in the sprawling Iraq-to-Syria swatch of territory.

We will see how this goes. We are generally optimistic now that we will all share some sort of 2024. Let’s try to take this new year with the gusto other generations have applied to theirs. Thqt would be tk tg line and dance-off if we were just writing to remind us that there have been other times of distress. For most of them, common sense and a dose of reality sufficed to defuse some of the looming anxiety. We will go with that approach until the 1920s really rear up. There is a lot more in the suitcase than that. It is going to take a minute to get it unpacked!

Happy New Year!

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