A familiar beginning

Those who make a big deal of the beginning of the new year tend to romanticize it with visions of the classic night clubs peopled with the cream of society, swilling champagne and kissing to the strains of Auld Lang Syne.

And I'm sure there are people whose new year experience closely approximates this.

But midnight Israel time found most of our household already asleep (after all, January 1st is a school/work day), and the few stragglers were doing dishes, finishing homework or reading.

At some point in the wee hours of the morning our nine year old shuffled down to our bedroom and announced his presence with the question, "Ima, I told you that you have to bake a cake for school tomorrow... Did you do it?".

To which my groggy wife muttered, "Oh crap", into her pillow.

Thanks to the seven hour difference, we watched the ball drop in Times Square while we ate our breakfast, and drank our coffee with the smell of freshly baked cake (destined for a combined third grade class birthday celebration) wafting from the oven.

For us, the new secular year arrived quietly and was 'celebrated' in a most familiar and pleasant way... like any other day.

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