Seems like the custom of lighting fireworks on New Year’s Eve is global. My son took the photo at right. New Year’s fireworks at Kailua Bay, Hawai`i. These colorful, artificial stars in the sky always make me smile in awe.
Americans also have fireworks displays on the 4th of July, anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Writing to his wife Abigail, John Adams declared that the event should be celebrated annually with bonfires and fireworks.
This convergence causes me to wonder: Are New Year’s Resolutions in any way related to Revolution? And, will there be fireworks to mark the successful completion of same?
The writer in me scratches her head.
“I know. Let’s check out Merriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary.” Click, click, click go the keys.
Writer thinks:
“This is so much easier than having to flip pages and read tiny print. And I don’t even have to know how to spell the words.” Click, click, click.
RESOLVE – to settle something, to make a serious decision to do something. So, if I resolve to finally organize my travel photos, I better follow through. Considering I have almost 6,000 photos to go through, there will be fireworks of astonishment from my family.
I’ll start with the 2011 pictures from Krueger National Park in South Africa. Two years after the fact seems a reasonable starting point. This lion looks a bit skeptical of my resolve. The photo was taken at night with light from a Land Rover picking out a sleepy lion, ready to doze off from over-eating.
So, let’s see if the rhino has more confidence in my proposed revolutionary action. He seems hopeful that his perfect pose is not wasted.
The sky never judges. It simply observes. Anything can happen in a new day.
Before I forget – what about REVOLUTION? Back to the dictionary…Okey dokey. First definition: start a new government. Well, that seems a bit over the top as a New Year’s goal.
Second definition: A sudden, extreme, or complete change in the way people live. Hmmm, organizing my photos would mark a definite change in my usual habits.
Third definition: The action of moving around something in a path that is similar to a circle.
So, I can resolve to organize my photos, which would make a change in my usual habits, yet at the same time I can return to the original starting point. This must be an almost scientific explanation for the reasons so many of us fail to follow our resolve for more than a month.
I need to scratch my head a bit on that one.
Wishing you the best of everything in 2014. I’ll keep you posted on the photos.
Photo of fireworks by Joel Wagner-Wright. All Rights Reserved.
All other photos by author. All Rights Reserved.
Sandra Wagner-Wright holds the doctoral degree in history and taught women’s and global history at the University of Hawai`i. Sandra travels for her research, most recently to Salem, Massachusetts, the setting of her new Salem Stories series. She also enjoys traveling for new experiences. Recent trips include Antarctica and a river cruise on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel.
Sandra particularly likes writing about strong women who make a difference. She lives in Hilo, Hawai`i with her family and writes a blog relating to history, travel, and the idiosyncrasies of life.
