reflections and foreshadowing.

A college classmate of mine once told me that in her homeland of Russia, what you do for the New Year is seen as a foreshadowing of what the coming year will bring. Ever since then, I've often thought of things in this context - nothing taken very seriously, but more as an aid for reflection.

Last NYE, Ben and I spent the final moments of 2012 at a random house party, getting rained on by confetti and lots of cheering. We spent the first day of 2013 running a 5k, meeting up with some of Ben's family and spending time visiting a few of my friends. I'd say it was a pretty fair foreshadowing of the year. The beginning of our marriage was cause for a few fun and random celebratory events; we spent a good amount of time hanging out with our families; I was able to take a few trips to visit some of my close friends around the country; and of course, it was a big recreational running year for us - Ben ran four races this year, and I ran a total of six, including my very first half-marathon. 2013 was full of lots of change for us, from job transitions, marital status... and of course, planetary location. We set quite a few goals throughout the course of the year, and accomplished many of them. It was a year not without hardships, but overall a very fulfilling time in our lives.

yarra park crowds

For NYE 2013, we got to see two fireworks shows. The first was the early celebration at Yarra Park, geared more towards families with young children. There was face-painting, food booths, an obnoxious-sounding television/radio program being blasted at top volume, many people sprawled out on the grassy areas, children running around wielding light-up toys. The fireworks began at 9:30, and afterwards was the inevitable Great Exodus of many people leaving one place at the same time. All busses, trams and trains in Victoria are free on the 31st from 6pm on - which is very nice, but makes for some very chaotic circumstances immediately after large events. The few trams we saw were jam packed full of miserable-looking people, so we opted to travel on foot for the evening. The sidewalks in the CBD were just as crowded as the trams, though, and we learned first-hand that the city really does come alive on New Year's Eve.

early fireworks

chaos.

Melbourne sets off midnight fireworks from a few different locations in the city, one of which was a block away from our apartment. We probably could have seen a bit of the celebration from our living room, but we decided to head to the water for a nice open view of the show. Because the Docklands are on the outskirts of the city, everything was a lot less chaotic than the CBD, but it was still crowded, and the most busy we've ever seen the neighbourhood. It was a beautiful night - warm with a bit of a breeze, but perfect conditions for watching fireworks. We saw several large party boats cruising around the water, and the Melbourne Star ferris wheel was lit up with festive designs. The fireworks at midnight were beautiful and tasteful, and the five-minute walk home was very, very nice.

docklands fireworks at midnight

The weather on New Year's Day was overcast and rainy, so we didn't do much. We went for a short run in the morning, which hopefully foreshadows a year of mobility and health maintenance. We also started a new family tradition of writing letters: one personal letter to ourselves, and one letter to the other people in our family - which at the moment, is just each other. Next New Year's Day, we'll read these letters, and write two more to be read the following year. We'll see if this tradition is actually worth continuing, but I've always liked the idea of letters to future selves. And there's just something special about a handwritten note, especially in this day and age of electronic everything.

We rang in 2014 a day ahead of our friends and families in the States, in the midst of a crowd full of strangers, gazing at fireworks in the backyard of our new home. I have no idea what this new year will bring for us, but I hope it's good stuff. 

So, Happy New Year to all our friends and family around the world. May this year bring you blessings, peace, great memories, and adventure (if that's your sort of thing). Thank you all for your support and encouragement in our journey thus far, for your comments and well-wishes, for keeping up with us through the miles and kilometers.

Let's make this year an awesome one, okay?

CK