New Year

I have long considered New Year's Day to be the most boring day of the year in France.  In keeping with family tradition I would usually go to bed at a normal time (around 10 pm) which meant I got a good night's sleep.  It also meant that most people were coming home about the time I was getting up so the streets were deserted and my friends were dead tired.  There were no parades or football games to watch.  Why would anyone want to begin the new year by sleeping all day? 

January 1 was not a boring day this year.  I watched the Rose Bowl parade (and learned that artichoke is a fruit).  The extended family Christmas gathering was in the afternoon and it was quite the party by our family's standards.  We arrived at 1 to help get things set up and left about 7.  It was good to catch up with some of the cousins.  The question of the day was what had surprised us over the past year.  An uncle was surprised how hard it was to turn 70.  Other events included a major tornado that just missed three farms in the family, an uncle's heart surgery (No, it can't wait until planting is over!), a 50th wedding anniversary (the surprise was how fast those 50 years had gone and some wonder at how they had done it) and cousin Tim bringing a girlfriend along.  As usual there was lots of good food and I ate way too much sugar.  When I got home and checked the football scores, I was doubly glad to have had something else to do.  The Big Ten got slaughtered! 

By the way, our family party was held at The Lantern, a new coffee shop in Sibley IA.  If you ever go through there, be sure and stop in for the best cup of coffee around.  (At least that's what I've been told.  I'm not a coffee drinker so I can't speak from personal experience.) You can find it on the north side of Main Street just west of the Pizza Ranch. 

(My resolution of the week is to get back to posting on the weekend.)