Already, It is only the first week of November and I'm being driven up the wall…baloola …on the brink of insanity thinking about New Year's Eve! Is it not the most annoying dead loss of a date in the history of calender date history??

It drives ME cuckoo. No sooner has October disappeared into the mists, It is suddenly upon us…this obsessive questioning and pondering..What will we do for New Year's Eve? Blah di blah! Where will we go? I've to get my ears immunized….before they fall off from all the eavesdropping they're doing on their own behalf…mention New Year's Eve and my ears take on a whole entity of their own. Like signal devices, they respond to the word 'New YEARS' Even before the actual sounds and decibels have reached me.!!

I am tired of my own hearing games.

We all become so focused on the actual festivities of the night that we forget to contemplate the passing of the old and the bringing forth of the new. The cycle of life..the waving goodbye of another year..another hour marked off our collective lives is not even considered. Philosophizing won't get us anywhere…I suppose but I'm fed up full stop! Why such a panic to herald in a New Year? I was just getting used to the old one…I hadn't even started on last year's resolutions..never mind a brand new year full of meaningless ones!

It is downright depressing…Am I being harsh in saying that New Years' Eve is the biggest let down…and the least enjoyable night of the year? You take forever getting the war paint on along with all the dress up gear ..you end up spending the rest of the night running from pillar to post in vain..seeking out the fiesta of all fiestas. Your feet hurt..it's freezing cold, you haven't had as much as a drop of alcohol as you were captained off as DRIVER.

To top it off, the elderly bachelor has slobbered all over you and the local resident drunk has destroyed your new designer top you spent a small fortune on acquiring for the holiday period.

New Year's house parties, of course, sound like the perfect way to bring forth the dreaded year. I always find though and party hosts, do forgive…Whilst you're having the most marvellous time, the wine is never-ending….the food… a gourmet paradise....atmosphere buzzing with enthusiasm and hope, Your mind lingers on the other party down the road..or the local pub. You wonder guiltily if you'll be missed for a half an hour while you trot down for a quick fix? As you push yourself through the pub door…you're brought to the realisation that the place is empty and you'd find more intoxicating vibes in the local morgue!!

A time to reflect perhaps?…A New Year is but a short time away. A time to make alterations… time to lose weight…quit smoking and become a health freak. By the following morning with a hangover delivered from Lucifer, you fall into despair. To comfort yourself, a huge fry results and you call around to your partying hosts later that afternoon to guzzle the remains of their drinks supply. You make a pact to quit the fags for Lent, give up boozing for the summer and develop supermodel proportions by next Xmas!

The irony of the blasted night is that if you go far afield for the festivities, your thoughts inevitably return to your family/friends at home. You smile nostalgically…wondering if the slobbering /saliva enhanced bachelor is doing the rounds and if the Village Square is alive to the celebrations. Somehow, your imagination flies away to never never land along with you and your own partying now pales in comparison to what you're missing at home.

So,What does one do?

A good question…..I would find myself in a candle lit corner of my favourite corner in the world(Connemara)…complete with my all time favourite bottles of wine and my all time favourite NO.1 collection of Musicians/Singers/Poets/Friends/Lunatics and improvise into the early morning of a new day. BUT… that's dreaming of an ideal existence…I suppose I'll see you around this new year's eve….hopping like a lunatic from one party to the other!! I'll be the poor soul with the frenzied panicky look in their eyes!!

HEY! Don't crush me in the battle for the bar!

Happy (early)New Year!!

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Also by Ita Kane:
'Truelight' Adventuring
Storm on the Titanic: Interview with Patrick Murphy from Gaelic Storm
Traumatised L driver seeks other traumatised L drivers
B+B hoopla, rootseekers and Leaving Cert memories
New Year Blues in November
Bog Week Splendour

Read Ita's travels in the Far East
From East to West

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