New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

News Year's Eve is celebrated all around the world. The evening commemorates the last day of the Gregorian calendar, December 31st.

According to Google Search, because of the many different time zones, the actual end of the year is celebrated at different times depending on your geographic location. The first place to celebrate the New Year is on the small Pacific Island of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati. New Zealand is next in celebrating the New Year, followed by Australia, Japan, and South Korea. The last place to celebrate is Bakers Island.

Confetti flies and fireworks explode as place after place welcomes in the New Year. Probably the most iconic image of this night is the ball as it drops in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. “The ball is made of crystal and electric lights and is placed on top of a pole, which is 77 feet, or 23 meters, high. At one minute before midnight on December 31, the ball is lowered slowly down the pole. It comes to rest at the bottom of the pole at exactly midnight. The event is shown on television across the United States and around the world. The ceremony has been held every year since 1907, except during world War II. There won't be the huge crowd this year to witness the drop, but I believe everyone will be glad to see 2020 come to an end.

Facts about the ball and the Times Square celebration:

  1. The ball has dropped 111 times.
  2. The ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds.
  3. There are 2,688 Waterford crystals triangles that adorn the ball.
  4. The first ball was made of iron and wood and weighed 700 pounds.
  5. The first ball had 100 lights bulbs.
  6. This year, the numeral 2-0-2-1 will stand 7-feet high and use a total of 618 9-watt LED bulbs.
  7. More than one ton of confetti will be dropped in Times Square during the celebration. 8. The ball can display a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns that create a spectacular kaleidoscope effect.

Source: Stuytown "7 Fascinating Facts About the Times Square Ball Drop"

In Despicable Lies, Alex and Danielle decided to work at the hospital on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so that others on the hospital's staff could celebrate with their families. "They planned to enjoy a romantic night together on New Year's Eve."

It was on New Year's Eve that Danielle and Alex were in their kitchen cooking that romantic dinner when Connie Pierce called from Washington and told Danielle some news that truly rocked her world. She would never forget that night.

"I guess I can't put this off any longer.” She (Connie) began. “We were introduced to a lot of new people that afternoon. One lady in particular caught our attention immediately. She looked exactly like you. The resemblance was uncanny. She had your same deep-set eyes and she wore her hair the same way you do. I actually thought she was you and went over to give her a big hug. She was completely taken aback. After a few awkward seconds, her boyfriend stepped in and introduced her to us. Her name is Darcy Coulter."

That was the moment, when after fifteen years, Danielle knew for certain that her twin was alive and well and living in Washington, D.C. Everything that happens in Danielle' story as an adult, began with that New Year's Eve phone conversation.

In Second Chances, Connie Pierce again in Washington, is involved with the Coulter twin's holidays. She says to Darcy, "Beginning tomorrow, I'd like to set up regular meetings with you every morning at 8:00 am here at the house. Unfortunately, that will mean even on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and even New Years. We simply have too much to do to take time off during the holidays this year. I hope that is acceptable. I know you always spend them with Danielle and her family."

The Christmas holidays celebrated at The Seacrest Condominium in Trapped is not described in the story, so you can imagine the boisterous gathering yourself. Be assured that the twin boys, Max and Mark will be involved in mischief and lovingly torturing poor Stormy, probably making him wear a Santa hat or Rudolph red nose.

Sometimes, unforeseen things interfere with our annual celebration at the end of the year, as the Covid virus and social distancing have this time...but as both Darcy and Danielle learned...there is always next year.

To all my readers, thank you for your loyalty, and from my home to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Until my next inspiration...ciao.


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