By William Cullen Bryant
Stay yet, my friends, a moment stay—
Stay till the good old year,
So long companion of our way,
Shakes hands, and leaves us here.
Oh stay, oh stay,
One little hour, and then away.
The year, whose hopes were high and strong,
Has now no hopes to wake;
Yet one hour more of jest and song
For his familiar sake.
Oh stay, oh stay,
One mirthful hour, and then away.
The kindly year, his liberal hands
Have lavished all his store.
And shall we turn from where he stands,
Because he gives no more?
Oh stay, oh stay,
One grateful hour, and then away.
Days brightly came and calmly went,
While yet he was our guest;
How cheerfully the week was spent!
How sweet the seventh day's rest!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One golden hour, and then away.
Dear friends were with us, some who sleep
Beneath the coffin-lid:
What pleasant memories we keep
Of all they said and did!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One tender hour, and then away.
Even while we sing, he smiles his last,
And leaves our sphere behind.
The good old year is with the past;
Oh be the new as kind!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One parting strain, and then away.
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I had to finish and post a review of Star Trek: The Next Generation's less-than-great episode "Emergence" and the kids had some homework to do, so we had a relatively quiet final day of 2010. Paul made Eggs Benedict for brunch with low-fat Hollandaise sauce and fake Canadian bacon for those of us who don't eat meat, which was awesome, then in the afternoon we went to Great Falls to enjoy the 50-degree weather and the hazy sunshine. There were a lot of people, possibly because they aren't currently collecting fees since the parking lot is being repaired; we watched kayakers come down the rapids and walked a couple of miles down the towpath, where we saw ducks and a heron in the patches where the C&O Canal wasn't frozen over.
Fannish5: Name your 5 fannish wishes for 2011.
1. Deathly Hallows, Part 2 living up to expectations.
2. Reunited October Project putting out an album.
3. Doctor Who flashback involving Nine. And Eight.
4. Smallville season 11.
5. William Shatner being too busy with $#&! My Dad Says to participate in Trek reboot.
Last year I posted that I wasn't making any resolutions like "I'm going to become a pescetarian" or "I'm going to lose ten pounds" because inevitably I do better when I'm not trying to force myself into some do-or-die mindset. I stopped eating poultry at the beginning of the year, and a few weeks later I stopped eating seafood as well, with the encouragement of Adam, who has been an extremely good influence and an inspiration in that regard. I haven't always been good about avoiding sodium and I haven't exercised as diligently as my doctor says I should, but I've been better than I really expected, all told. So I think "no resolutions" is a good policy for me.
Last December 31 I was also writing about Avatar, which we'd seen the day before. We watched it again tonight, having discussed it in the car after The King's Speech. It's still my favorite film of 2009 by a huge stretch and I'm not sure I've seen anything as memorable in 2010, though I've seen several enjoyable movies of late. Right now my entire family is suffering through the Backstreet Boys-New Kids on the Block medley on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, though the kids are grateful that at least it's not Justin Bieber. Happy 2011!
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