DAY 135: IT'S NEW YEARS IN NEW YORK

     When I was younger I'd try so hard to watch Dick Clark do the New Year's Eve countdown and see the ball drop.  But sometime around 10:38 or 11:24, I'd fall asleep.  I remember Dad carrying me into my room and coming wide awake, panicked.  "I need to stay up until it's New Years.  Dad, I have to stay up until next year."  That's when Dad would say we'd celebrate New Years tomorrow or Mom would chime in "It's the New Year in New York!  So you've made it.  You stayed up long enough, it's ok."  Somehow that manipulation of time did the trick.  I'd relax, snuggle my head on Dad's shoulder as he continued to carry me to my room, and think it was already the next year.