New Year's Eve Is a Bad Night to Live Close to a Fireworks Store

Here it is: (Insert drum roll here) My first blog of 2012!

Early in 2011 I blogged about the futility of making resolutions; so, I'll pass on that this year.

I could pen something on the Iowa Caucuses, but does anyone other than Ron Paul really care?

I could wax effusive about the 2012 Jeep Wrangler I am driving this week. I do love the Wrangler! But that doesn't seem very seasonalesque.

I could have slept better last night. I behaved myself and stayed home. I'm not one of those people who refuse to go out on New Year's Eve because it's "amateur night." What the heck do I care if people who don't drink any other time are getting pounded into oblivion on New Year's Eve?  Other than the fact they make it tougher to get a seat at the bar, I hardly notice them.

No, I didn't go out last night because, as usual, I was at Soby's until late on Friday night and didn't feel like spending another night hanging on a bar. If I had a date or a running buddy to hang with, I probably would have hit downtown. Being on my own, however, I just wasn't motivated.

I opened a bottle of red, cooked some Italian and watched a couple of movies. I was in bed reading by 11:30. It was from that attitude that I returned a half dozen texts wishing me a Happy New Year at midnight. The ones from friends in other time zones went unanswered.

Here's a tip: If it's midnight in Little Rock, it's 1 a.m. in SC; if it's midnight in Calif., it's 3 a.m. in SC. This is fairly basic addition. Unless you are my second cousin Marvin and quit the 3^rd grade to run away and join the circus, you probably have the tools to do the math!

I was sleepy, but didn't bother to try to sleep before 12. It would have been futile. At the stroke of midnight, all hell broke loose. I have never heard the intensity or volume of fireworks that went off within my earshot last night. For a moment, I thought maybe they were giving it to our boys in Vicksburg again.

These weren't just some bottle rockets or M80s firing off in the yards of neighbors; there were big boomers that rattled my windows.

It wasn't until I headed downtown to visit with my bartender buddy Natalie today that I noticed the parking lot of the fireworks store right around the corner from my house. It was littered with row after row after row of the trash left over after shooting off major fireworks. They must have shot off $2,000 or $3,000 worth of stuff.

So, if I'm a little bleary eyed today, it's not from a wild evening, but from a serious lack of sleep.

Not a great way to begin the New Year, but it can only get better from here, right? I'm ever the optimist.