Posted on by Phil Strawn

Is New Year’s Just Another Day Like the One Before? Yes


Some of my late relatives celebrated New Year’s in 1955

For me and my wife, Momo, New Year’s Eve wasn’t much different than the day before it. We had a nice supper, watched a bit of TV, and then we were in the sack by 9:30 CT. Texts from my son, grandchildren, and friends went off at about 11:45 PM, prompting me to get up and answer back. I’m getting better at texting once I found out how to use the voice-to-text part on my iPhone. That’s what us old folks do for special occasions: nothing, and we do it quite well.

The fireworks started about dark and continued until around 1 AM. Our neighborhood is a “no fireworks” area, so many of the residents got around the law by firing their automatic handguns and rifles into the air. The Sheriff will give them a ticket for a bottle rocket, but firing weapons at random is ok by them: It’s a Texas thing. Momo and I were tempted to take our automatic handguns into the backyard and fire off a magazine or two, but it was too cold, and we were already in our jammies and had slurped down hot Ovaltine and old folks meds. Maybe next year.

New Year’s Day will be the same as the day before. Nothing, with a bit more of nothing, except adding some of Momo’s Blackeyed Pea Soup with Jalapeno and Texas-style cornbread, will keep it gastronomically interesting for the rest of the day. She made a batch of homemade salsa and put a smidgen of my Vietnamese Death Pepper in the mix. It was pretty darn good once I got past the tearing eyes, the shortness of breath, and the muscle spasms that occurred when I leaned over the pot and dipped my Frito into the sauce. She also whipped up some homemade “Nanner-pudding” with Vanilla Waffers embedded in the luscious mix. I plan to eat myself into a mild desert-induced coma this evening.

I hope everyone who follows my blog and the ones I follow has a great 2024 year. Let’s be honest about it: things can’t get much worse than they were in 2023. Well, maybe they could, but I’ll address that in a few days. From the cactus patch, have a Happy New Year, folks.

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19 Replies to “Is New Year’s Just Another Day Like the One Before? Yes”

  1. (1) My wife and I drove to Lake Las Vegas yesterday. Before arriving at the parking lot, we encountered two coyotes, with one crossing the road in front of us to join the other. We watched the coyotes for quite a while. And they watched us until we got tired of watching them and headed to the nearby parking garage.
    (2) Lots of firecrackers went off in our neighborhood last night. Maybe even a few RPGs. But no one fired any rifles, shotguns, pistols, or slingshots.
    (3) I always stay up until midnight to watch the date change in the task bar of my computer. After I watched that, I went to YouTube and watched a live cam of the fireworks on the Las Vegas Strip. I also watched the sardines, er, I mean the people jammed between the casinos on the boulevard.
    (4) Happy New Year! (It’s bound to be eventful. Hopefully, in a good way.)

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  2. That’s an interesting pic of your late relatives with their super cool hats. Delving into a giant helping of Nanner-pudding is a great way to kick off 2024. Happy New Year! 🙂

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    1. They knew how to party for sure. I believe many of them kicked from a bad liver due to excessive partying. Yep, the pudding was excellent, as was the hot Ovaltine I drank a few minutes ago. Hope your 2024 is fruitful and happy and filled with joy, Nancy. Thank you for reading my craziness and your nice comments. I also enjoy your blog, but for some reason, I don’t get the notifications when you post. Just so you know, Momo is my wife, Maureen. We’ve known each other since she was 12 years old and I was driving at 14, which never should have happened if I hadn’t lived in a small town like Plano, Texas. I’ll write about that, someday soon.

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      1. I grew up on Ovaltine and Tang-loved them. I wish you and Momo improved health and successful endeavors in 2024. Hopefully, your childhood sweetheart’s kicking leg will become fully functional so she can keep you in line. I totally enjoy your posts as we’re on the same page with humor-although, you’re wonderfully carefree and I hold back (except for my post about foul language). I look forward to your future posts. 🙂

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  3. Happy New Year! Looking forward to reading more about the cactus patch and your incredibly interesting life with Maureen aka Momo. Take care

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  4. Jennifer and I were watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show when midnight hit…I try to keep it 1975 year round.
    Firing your gun up in the night air…put me down for that. Happy New Year Phil…thank you for all of the stories.

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    1. 1975 was a good year. Mary T. Moore was a sweetheart, loved her from the Dick Van Dyke days. If you tire of 75, try 1970 for a while..lots of good music from that year too. Thanks for reading and commenting, Max.

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  5. Nothing with a bit more of nothing. LOL! Very true.

    A death pepper and nanner puddin. Tearing eyes, shortness of breath and a coma. You really know how to party. Have mercy…

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  6. Hi Phil. Same fireworks here right next to our window, but I was awake. Always make it to midnight. We had cioppino (leftover) on Sunday night (still pissed at the Lions game), and prime rib on New Years Day. We usually don’t cook that much, but I had a chunk to sous vide and lots of leftover sides, so it wasn’t much work. Still pissed about the Lions game. Happy New Year.

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      1. Ha. I actually went a bit braindead and forgot you were from Texas when I wrote that! Ha. Or I might have been a little more tactful. 🙂 Lions should have played better earlier, but everybody always says that when there is a bad call and there are lots of close games. Doesn’t excuse shitty officiating. Or influencing a game that important.

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  7. My experience has been that whenever someone says that “things can’t get much worse than …” things usually get worse, with amazing speed. So now I’m nervous. I’m thinking of covering my ears, closing my eyes, and shouting LALALALALALA … I should be okay in a week or so. What I want to know is, with all our technology in 2024, why is Biden still president?

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    1. Mustang, why he is, no one knows. Hi crimes, treason, you name them and he’s done em. Our government is so rotten is likely the answer. I’ll address more in the next few weeks. I swore to Momo, my wife that I would be less political on my blog, but I don’t think I can.

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