HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ! ! !
There is no sleeping through midnight in Praha! As I mentioned some time ago fireworks are legal here.
We had gone for a long walk in the park with Shep, Mike, and Marek and then went back up to the apartment to just talk while Marek napped. We had talked about getting together around 8pm or so for a couple of hours, but, the more we thought about it we had done quite a bit that day and we were tired as it was. Seem silly to take the dog back, eat, and then go back over there again. Plus Hanka was in the middle of inventory and we didn’t want her to feel pressured to leave work at any set time. So we all agreed it wasn’t practical.
There was an occasional pop starting around eight or so. I let Shep out around nine. He did his thing and then headed right back in. He doesn’t mind them at a distance but when they are within a block he prefers to be in the house. I have my nose in to a John Jakes book called “Love and War”. It is a sequel to his “North and South” that has been made into a movie. Anyway, I turned the light out at 10:30. There was still an occasional bang. Shep normally doesn’t sleep in the same room with us, but he did last night.
At midnight there were so many fireworks going off in just our immediate neighborhood that it lit up the bedroom even though we have darker curtains over the day lace curtains. I got up and started watching from the living room windows. Because we are on a corner it made an ideal spot for the neighbors to light the fireworks. These were the real high in the air colorful ones. Not just on our corner but in every direction that I looked. Our area is higher up so from one living room window we can see quite a ways off in the distance. As far as I could see it was all fireworks. Many of them were the type that make a loud whirling sound and then burst into a colorful spray. The whirling noise sounded a little to close so I did back away from the glass windows.
There was a girl who lit one that she was holding in her hand. I’m not to sure it was meant to be held in ones hand, but, with enough ‘celebration’ in ya I guess someone could become a little more daring. Anyway, this thing is like an automatic gun. She points it down the street and it shoots off five or six “fireworks things” in a row with just a half second pause between them. Each was a different color and had a tail of sparkles in white. I really think it was meant to be stuck into the ground as they looked rather large sailing past the window.
And Jack’s sleeping! I didn’t know if I should wake him up or not. Finally around 12:15 he did wake up. They were still going off, just not as many. He came out and watched them for a while too. I told him this was nothing compared to ten minutes ago.
There was a lot of the M80 big bang type. After we went back to bed and were listening to them it dawned on me why they sounded so different. Now they putting them into the trash cans and shutting the lid! Once I figured out what they were using you could hear an occasional can fall over, or another can being pulled out into the street and a firecracker being thrown in it. I had imagined there would be trash and trash cans all over the place when we got up in the morning. There was no trash or trash cans in the street. Ours was where it normally always is. There were just the wrappers of spent firecrackers, everywhere.
Trash cans are generally not kept in your yard. They are kept on the side walk right where they get picked up once a week. They definitely are not in or to the side of your garage (if you have one). Garages in our area have just enough room to put the car in and they are under the house. To get to your garage you walk outside. These are old houses. The garage would be built during a remodeling phase and cut out of the basement or separate small building altogether. Trash cans aren’t as large as in the States. They are about 3 - 3-1/2 feet tall and 1-1/2 feet in diameter. They have the lids attached on a hinge
We had read a feature article in the Prague Post in early December about how if you insist upon being down town on New Year’s Eve you should know the word for “Duck!” in at least four languages. It mentioned rockets and how one had hit a guy in the back after it was shouted in one language that he knew and a couple he didn’t. It went on as to whether they should waste good champagne to put the fire out, or let the coat burn. I didn’t save the article ‘cause I figured it was more of a onetime thing and in the center of the city. Now we realize he wasn’t joking and I should have kept the article. I now wish I had thrown on cloths and just walked outside to really experience it. Hind sight is always easier.
• We also learned of a new tradition or superstition. On New Years day you avoid eating anything that flies. Otherwise your “Luck” for the year will fly away.
New Years Eve on there were a couple of programs on TV that had the audience in party hats. The men’s hats resembled more of the Masons without the tassel. Females looked more like pill box hats.
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