Hogmanney is the Scottish New Year, a mixture of ancient traditions and, possibly, a more modern reaction to the strict Cromwellian restrictions of the Middle Ages. It has a number of characteristics. Bonfires are a part, perhaps from Viking or Clan days. "Redding" the house is another. It is a ritualistic cleaning, a readying for the new year. The fireplace is swept and some read the ashes, like auguries. After midnight, neighbors visit, bringing small gifts, usually food, and receiving them, usually whiskey. Importance was placed on the first to enter in the new year, the "first foot." (Tall handsome men were good, redheaded women bad.) The house and the livestock are blessed with water from a local stream--which sounds really old--and then the woman of the house would go from room to room with a smoldering juniper branch, seemingly counteracting all the "redding" with smoke. Robert Burn's version of the traditional Scottish Auld Lang Syne, which translates to “times gone by,” is sung.
One of the curiosities of New Years Resolutions is the unspoken belief that new and better ideas are coming to the fore. I hope that is true but my advice is probably a hash of old suggestions:
Do not go out of the house in your pajamas.
Spend less than you earn.
Show gratitude, even when it is a reach.
Learn a good quote once a week.
There are better ways to do military-type lifts that pressure bones and joints but no good reason to do them at all.
Keep boundaries. Always reassess them.
One thing at a time. Multitasking has been shown to be terribly inefficient.
Do not be on time, be early.
Never use the phone at social events, dinner or in the car.
Keep up-to-date phone numbers and addresses of friends. Use them.
Get seven hours of sleep a day.
Broaden your base.
The time before and after exercise is very important. Warm up and cool down.
People will not remember presents but they will remember how you made them feel.
Make the bed every morning.
Have a number of diverse news sources. Do not rely on one--or one slant.
Ours is a period of downgrading. Let's start a mild upgrade with more effort on appearance.
And some book suggestions.
The Asimov Robot series is quite good and thoughtful. Some of it is quite provocative. Sci-fi is not for everyone, though.
The Devil is a Black Dog, an Easten European reporter's view of the Middle East through short stories. I liked a lot of it, much I did not, but it is revealing and informative.
Sackville-West's Joan of Arc is a good counterpoint to Twain's, but I preferred Twain's.
Imperium by Robert Harris is a novel about Cicero. I like Harris--loved Archangel, Fear Index not so much--but this is good although Man of Iron is better.
Alan Furst is my new favorite airplane-book writer. Very simple, straightforward espionage stories about Germany before the second war. His "cafe stories" are better.
Mantel's Wolf Hall was terrific. A different approach to Wolsey and Cromwell and very engaging.
The most beautifully written--and remarkably simple but profound --book I read this year was Cather's Death of the Archbishop.
Paul's Letter to the Galatians says that Christ on earth means that all men are adopted sons of God, heirs to His infinite creation.
So every man, regardless of station or circumstance, wealth or heritage, birthright or appearance, sickness or health is equal in the eyes of God. There have been a lot of notions--from nihilism to castes, from divine right to class conflict, from Freud to Malthus--that have come down the pike since the beginning of recorded time but has there ever been a more radical, more hopeful, more optimistic idea than that? And could there be a better thought to start the new year?
Happy New Year.
One of the curiosities of New Years Resolutions is the unspoken belief that new and better ideas are coming to the fore. I hope that is true but my advice is probably a hash of old suggestions:
Do not go out of the house in your pajamas.
Spend less than you earn.
Show gratitude, even when it is a reach.
Learn a good quote once a week.
There are better ways to do military-type lifts that pressure bones and joints but no good reason to do them at all.
Keep boundaries. Always reassess them.
One thing at a time. Multitasking has been shown to be terribly inefficient.
Do not be on time, be early.
Never use the phone at social events, dinner or in the car.
Keep up-to-date phone numbers and addresses of friends. Use them.
Get seven hours of sleep a day.
Broaden your base.
The time before and after exercise is very important. Warm up and cool down.
People will not remember presents but they will remember how you made them feel.
Make the bed every morning.
Have a number of diverse news sources. Do not rely on one--or one slant.
Ours is a period of downgrading. Let's start a mild upgrade with more effort on appearance.
And some book suggestions.
The Asimov Robot series is quite good and thoughtful. Some of it is quite provocative. Sci-fi is not for everyone, though.
The Devil is a Black Dog, an Easten European reporter's view of the Middle East through short stories. I liked a lot of it, much I did not, but it is revealing and informative.
Sackville-West's Joan of Arc is a good counterpoint to Twain's, but I preferred Twain's.
Imperium by Robert Harris is a novel about Cicero. I like Harris--loved Archangel, Fear Index not so much--but this is good although Man of Iron is better.
Alan Furst is my new favorite airplane-book writer. Very simple, straightforward espionage stories about Germany before the second war. His "cafe stories" are better.
Mantel's Wolf Hall was terrific. A different approach to Wolsey and Cromwell and very engaging.
The most beautifully written--and remarkably simple but profound --book I read this year was Cather's Death of the Archbishop.
Paul's Letter to the Galatians says that Christ on earth means that all men are adopted sons of God, heirs to His infinite creation.
So every man, regardless of station or circumstance, wealth or heritage, birthright or appearance, sickness or health is equal in the eyes of God. There have been a lot of notions--from nihilism to castes, from divine right to class conflict, from Freud to Malthus--that have come down the pike since the beginning of recorded time but has there ever been a more radical, more hopeful, more optimistic idea than that? And could there be a better thought to start the new year?
Happy New Year.
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