January 2, 2000 I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't set aside some time to welcome in a new year, a new century and (debatably) a new millennium. I've done the math - that head-aching number crunching that leaves no question that we are, in fact, still wallowing in the 20th century. Yet, undaunted by the mere perfect science of math, I, along with the 20 or so billion other inhabitants of this great earth of ours, am as caught up in the excitement, the historical relevance and the wonder as anyone else. Besides, the shear pleasure of scratching out that pesky "19" on all my cheques and writing a flourishing "2000" in its place is enough to make just about anyone giddy. When I graduated from high school in 1979 I remember how cool I thought it was that my 20 year reunion would be the last 20 year reunion of the millennium. Of course, there were other cool things about graduating as well, but for some reason that memory sticks out in my mind. Ironically, I was dutifully tracked down by the studious alumni of Burnaby South Senior Secondary this past summer and was mailed my invitation to the event that I so proudly anticipated for 20 years. I didn't go. Oh, I could come up with a dozen or so really good reasons why I didn't make it - such as...I don't live in the same city any more, I had to work that weekend, I couldn't afford the trip...all the usual suspects. But, alas, my main reason?? I had no one to go with. Sigh. I invited someone. They were honoured that I asked. They declined. Actually, he didn't really say "no". He just, well, didn't make the arrangements to travel the short 1500 miles to come and meet me there - go figure. But that didn't dim my spirit for the impending new millennium. Just because one misses a landmark penciled on a calendar 20 years ago is no excuse to let future landmarks go....well...unmarked. Five years ago I wasn't so sure that I would be around to see those triple zeros on my calendar. Had a little talk with myself back then. Said to myself......self.....you have two things to strive for. If you see those two things, then you can plan for two more...and so on. The two things I planned for were to see the year 2000 ushered in and to turn 40. One down....one to go. Okay, okay, so those aren't earth shattering plans...but they were a tall order five years ago. Now I have to start thinking about two more plans. My work never ends. So here I sit, staring the year 2000 squarely in its newborn face. Big wide-eyed child that it is, it has no idea what its in for. But then, that's the fun of a new year, right? Fresh starts, new beginnings, the unknown. Then again, as much as I would like to lean back, with hands clasped behind my head, and chuckle at the innocence of this new year, knowing full well what's to happen, I can't. I can pull that comfy blanket of history over myself and snuggle in, pretty darn smug that I could do a nifty job of prediction and I might even hit the mark once or twice. But if history is such a good teacher then I best be taking a lesson right of the smudged pages of my own history book. The past 8 years or so have hit me with the totally unpredictable at least once in each 12 month spread. That's eight, yes eight, little reminders that the future is just a hodge podge of events simmering in a pot, waiting for the steam to evaporate so we can see what rises to the surface. I'm not gonna take the chance on predicting anything any more. This year I wished really, really hard that I would be amongst a crowd of thousands when 2000 rolled in from the east. I just wanted to steal the excitement of thousands of people and make it all my own. Oh, I was willing to toss in my fair share of excitement, far be it from me to expect thousands of people to make up for my lack of enthusiasm. I had plenty of my own enthusiasm. It's akin to building a snowman, or watching a breaker on the ocean pick up momentum until it's a wave the size of a mountain. Each little snowflake, or each little droplet of water does its part. But the total, the end result, the finale, is oh so greater than the sum of its parts. I wasn't disappointed. At least not completely. I stood on the snow-drenched slopes of the shores of Okanagan Lake, shoulder to shoulder with 3 people I love and 10,000 people I don't know. I listened to the speakers blare out the last few great songs of 1999 (um.......Living Livida Loca was number one.....HEL-LOOO!!). The countdown started at 30 seconds. My sweet yet emotionally unshakable Arlie started getting choked up before we hit 27! (sorry Ar). My eyes were filling by 20. The emotion of the crowd swelled enormously. Someone in front of us was waving a gigantic Canadian flag. Strangers linked arms with strangers and swayed with the countdown. The noise, amplified by being broadcast over the speakers as well as being a living entity unto itself, over took each and every one of us. As we hit zero and the crowd exploded, so to, did the sky. A rainbow of colour blasted out over the darkness of the lake, reflecting magically against the snow on the shore. It was so moving, so exhilarating, so right-down-to-my toes thrilling. It was also, about 10 minutes too short. Ah, the stuff of small-town shindig planners! But not to worry, for after we had made our way through the throngs to join countless hundreds awaiting the two shuttle buses reserved to take us all back to our cars a few miles away, we were treated to the remainder of the display...only a short 20 minutes late and completely out of view. Yet, crafty citizens that we are, we managed to catch a few moments of pyrogliphics by reflection in the windows of the office building next to the bus stand. An interesting finale actually - symbolic explosions of fire caught in reflection. What better way to step over the boundaries of a millennium if not in pensive reflection. Home Back Ahead