Wringing Out the Old

Happy 2009, but don't expect any lists of resolutions or a recounting of wild New Year's Eve parties from this corner. Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming in the new hasn't been a favorite activity of mine since I was young enough to think staying awake past midnight was a big deal. While making resolutions seems a noble enough gesture, too often those resolutions seem to focus exclusively on surface modifications and appearances. Likewise, the tradition of ushering out the preceding year in a frenzy of alcohol and war whoops has seemed increasingly morally ambiguous, especially over the past few years. While I've always had my reservations about New Year festivities, I think it was the celebration of 2004/2005 that left me most cold. With media coverage of revelers in Times Square and the steady pulse of activity from inside bars throughout the city of Albany, NY coming a mere five days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean, with a body count topping 200,000 people, the notion of cheering on the flipping of calenders seemed absurd. The growing deterioration in Iraq and news of torture from Abu Ghraib only added to the despondency of '04, and while an optimist might claim the cheering crowds were attempting to move beyond the horrors of the previous year, the pessimist in me doubted many were thinking much about the year's events at all.

So last night Jane and I had some friends over for a meal and a movie. They headed home shortly after 11 PM, by which time it was 2009 in Montana, while we managed to stay awake until around midnight, shortly before a dense ocean fog rolled into the neighborhood. 2008 was not exactly a banner year, both personally and globally. The fallout from the housing bubble, subprime mortgage crisis, banking failures, corporate welfare and the growing recession dominated much of the news cycle. Our personal story was largely shaped by Jane's deployment, which carved out five months of 2008. The loneliness of the separation was bad enough, but the lame nature of the deployment's schedule was equally frustrating. While port visits to the Maldvies, Bahrain, Dubai and Australia offered an opportunity to see several areas of the world she's unlikely to visit again, the fact that the ship bypassed Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Seychelles (all ports that had been directly or indirectly promised) led many experienced Navy personnel onboard to declare the Cleveland's tour to be the "worst deployment ever". I'm thankful no violence occurred, either against the crew or anybody in the path of the ship - in that regard, a "boring" deployment is welcome. But the pain of cruising through the Strait of Malacca non-stop, with Singapore's restaurants and culture glittering on the shore less than 1.5 nautical miles away through the narrow Philips Channel, was harsh indeed.

So, it is with little regret that I bid a forceful farewell to 2008. As always, I look for silver linings in the details, and find them - a national shift away from over consumption and towards saving, say, or the promise of a new administration. I'll soon offer a list of favorite books and pieces of music from the preceding year, a perennial note of hope at each season's close. And the year has seen a welcome move towards spending more time with friends, entertaining at home, cooking, reading, traveling. With all the upheavals taking place around us - economically and emotionally - it's been a good year for taking stock and embracing the positive.