Crazy Brian

I have a friend that sent me pictures on facebook today of a large group of people who were participating in one of those “Polar Bear” swims. I guess the idea is to ring in the New Year by taking a dip in near freezing water. I am aware that people do this, I’m just not sure why. I would be more than happy to take a dip in the ocean off of Honolulu or Kehei, but not Parkville BC or anywhere near there.

I’ve always known that my friend was one or two bricks short of a full load, but other than being just a little twisted he seems kind of nice. It appears that I have been mistaken all of these years; Brian is out of his freakin’ mind! Let me know when “little Bri” returns to normal size, sometime in July probably. I bet Linda wasn’t stupid enough to jump in a cold ocean.

 

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It’s funny how much New Year’s Eve can change as you travel through your life. When I was little, I remember that was the day that there were potato chips, pretzels, candy and pop in the fridge for us to enjoy. It also signalled an end to Christmas in my mind because shortly after we would head back to school and all we had to look forward to was playing in the snow and homework for the next few months.

I got a little older and New Years Eve was a party that we planned for weeks ahead of time. First, we needed to secure a location where parents were out for the night and was available for a party. Alcohol was next on the agenda, but it never seemed to be that hard to obtain. I can’t remember how, but I suspect older siblings factored into the equation. Some years everything worked out and other years we drifted back and forth from one adult parent party to another. They weren’t as much fun, but did provide an insight into what it was like to be fully adult.

One friend’s parents would hold a party every New Years Eve and all were welcome. We always made sure to drop in around midnight because at the stroke of midnight the neighbour from across the street would walk up and down the street dressed only in a diaper. He must have been terribly drunk and very cold. I guess there wasn’t a large body of water near by for him to jump in.

The planning for New Years was always more fun than the actual night. We spent a lot of it walking around in the cold, drunk and walking around in the cold, looking after a friend that was a sad, depressed drunk and ultimately getting a chaste kiss on the cheek from the girl you were madly in love with. I never really liked to get drunk, and being sober among drunks was less than enjoyable.

For many of the past New Years, Louise and I have spent a relatively quiet evening at home and when midnight comes we kiss and then open the back door to let the old year out and open the front door to let the New Year in. Shortly there after, we head to bed and dream of the year to come.

Last night I dreamt of a healthy and prosperous year filled with laughter and love.