snow owl, north countryHappy 2010 to you!

A new year and a new web site!

Last night my family and I did our New Year's Eve tradition of writing down our wishes for the new year, then burning the wish lists at midnight and flinging the ashes out into the night air. My husband usually does the pyrotechnic part because he is afraid I will set the house on fire, but this year he went to bed early.

"Excellent!" I thought. Now I get to do the burning part.

I couldn't find any matches.

No problem, I thought. I'll just use a lighter.

I stuck the little papers on some tin foil in the kitchen and started flicking the lighter.

The thing is, it's amazingly hard to set little bits of paper on fire with a lighter without giving your thumb second-degree burns. 

When the paper finally caught fire, the flame rose up pretty high and that was when I realized that there was a jar of paint thinner on the kitchen window sill. I was pretty sure that no good could come of that. So I carefully picked up the tin foil with the flaming papers and began to move them to the dining room table.

Dogs get really nervous around flaming bits of paper.

I have two dogs.

So the dogs started barking like mad, whereupon my husband rolled out of bed to see what was going on and found me in the middle of the room holding an impressive bon fire.

Admittedly, it did APPEAR as though I was in the process of burning down the house, but I am sure it all would have turned out just fine in the end. Still, he decided that it was best if he finished the job.

Anyway, wishes were successfully burned, ashes flung, and the house is still standing. 2010 is off to a promising start!

Happy New Year to all of you!!