The New Year

After the kids departed, Nazy and I faced New Years Eve alone – for the first time in many, many years. We booked a dinner cruise on Lake Zürich on the Pente Rey, a relatively new boat with a somewhat chequered history. Although it was designed specifically for Lake Zürich, when it was delivered, someone discovered that the engines were not powerful enough to move against the formidable current. This problem had been, we were assured, corrected – although not inexpensively.

Clouds turned to snow and slush as we made our way to the Lake. The dinner was great and although the snow was falling heavily, the cruise was smooth and trouble-free. At 12:15 AM on January 1, 2009, we were perfectly positioned to see the spectacular fireworks. Unfortunately, low clouds were perfected positioned to obscure the fireworks. The most spectacular airbursts took place in the fog of cloud with semi-circles of red, blue, green and gold peaking out at the bottom. Some, in fact, looked like lightening bursts in distant clouds – light, but no color or definition.

We returned home by tram – luckily the snow had stopped. (And, true to Swiss form, the street cleanup had already begun.

We spent the next few days dismantling the holiday decorations - the easy part of the job. Putting things back in boxes and getting the boxes back the narrow spiral staircase was far more complicated. (I wisely delegated that task to Nazy who is the family master of organization.) While she was working her magic, I chopped the gargantuan tree into pieces and carried it down to the kerb. My efforts were, naturally, unappreciated.

“You’ve dropped every single evergreen needle on the carpet, Dan.” Nazy observed.

“Don’t be absurd, my dear,” I replied. “There’s a bunch of needles stuck to me. My hair is a mess.”

“What hair?”

It’s nice to be appreciated.