During this holiday week, here’s a reprised edition of “Break It Down!”
This Issue has been revised from the Break It Down post I originally conceived, created, and published December 29, 2010, and subsequently re-posted in amended formats December 28, 2011, December 31, 2014, December 30, 2015, December 28, 2016, January 3, 2018, January 2, 2019, and today, December 30, 2020. This is my final post of the month, and of the year 2020. This is the 705th Edition of Break It Down, which debuted August 20, 2007 on the BlogSpot platform. I migrated the principal site to WordPress August 3, 2012, approximately three weeks before the Fifth Anniversary of the blog. You may find this and most other posts at either site.
With this post I wish you a blessed and bountiful Happy New Year. Now, enjoy today’s blog post.
The one-half fortnight between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a unique occurrence in the unfolding of the American version of the Gregorian Calendar. It is the only instance in which the space of a mere seven days separates two major holidays. Unquestionably, the timing is propitious. Even in a year dominated by the coronavirus, millions of holiday travelers are returning home from their Christmas commemoration and revelry, just in time to get a day off to “celebrate” the New Year…and recuperate from the old, most notably their extracurricular activities, including the exploits of New Year’s Eve. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I hope to the extent feasible, most people celebrated Christmas, and plan to observe the arrival of the New Year, responsibly.
In last week’s post, I presented a re-formatted airing of my personally crafted Christmas Concert (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2020/12/23/twelve-days-of-christmas-the-e-concert-2020-edition/) from past Noels. This week, I doubled down and revisited my trusty time capsule. Once again, this tack permits new readers to catch-up by seeing the piece, it allows long-time readers to reflect upon both the passing year as well as the theme lifted in the post, and finally, it ensures that those busy readers, with no time to invest in checking out a new blog during the holidays, will not have to miss anything. It’s a win, win…win!
With that loosely framed preamble behind us, here’s this week’s déjà vu all over again:
Since we are still in the Sweet Spot of the holidays, I shall practice minimalism. For your purposes, that means the blog should be available, but not intrusive. To that end, I am taking a page from the Christmas e-concert but going a step further. Instead of a concert, I give you a song…of reflection.
Robert Burns, a Scot, wrote a poem (Auld Lang Syne) in 1788 that has come to symbolize the spirit of mass contemplation that people around the world invoke as the clock strikes midnight, signaling not just the dawn of a new day, but of a new year. Undoubtedly, you have been somewhere, at some time, when you joined those assembled to sing Auld Lang Syne, which loosely translated means, Times gone by.
Once again, that time is upon us. After thoughtful reflection, even during Covid, I have had no choice but to conclude, my travails have been few and small, especially when compared to my blessings, which have been both abundant and vast! All praises to the one true, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God; a mighty fortress is He.
No need to thank me for my inherent thoughtfulness. But, by all means, “Drink a cup of kindness,” or eggnog, or Champagne, or “name your favorite adult beverage,” for me. And, if you are a teetotaler, water will do nicely, thank-you!
As I complete my final post of 2020, and, prayerfully and faithfully reflect upon the year framed by the narrative of COVID-19, I leave with you this familiar Irish Toast:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
I invite you to click on the links directly below, which lead to an A cappella and a Jazz interpretation of Auld Lang Syne, arranged and performed by the late Lou Rawls (and listen to the remainder of this week’s edition of Break It Down):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0z_MamGk2c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkWqUR-YdWs
It has been my unique honor and privilege to visit with you briefly for each of the 52 weeks this year. I hope you have derived a fraction of the pleasure reading (and occasionally listening to) the blog posts, that I have experienced from preparing and sharing them with you. May 2021 bring you the fulfillment of all your fondest desires. As it is shortly after midnight here in the Eastern Time Zone of the U.S.A., I humbly invite you to join with me in extending Happy Birthday greetings…to ME! Moreover, as we rapidly approach Friday, it’s my esteemed honor, and pleasure, on this the eve of the eve of 2021, to wish you "Happy New Year: Auld Lang Syne -- Redux 2021 Edition!"
I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.
To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.
For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/question279.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne
https://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2020/12/happy-new-year-heres-to-auld-lang-syne.html
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