HOGMANAY

Hours remain of the old year. Knitting on the needles must be finished. Every corner of the house must be clear and clean as a whistle. Copper and brass must be polished and floors shining. In the past, there were not many corners or cupboards or much of anything else for that matter. But homemade wine, fruitcake, shortbread and being ready for the clock to strike at midnight filled the day with a sense of exhilaration and expectation.

Five years of war interrupted the age-old tradition. I left Scotland a couple of years after. Christmas was the mid-winter festival in England. For one reason or another New Year got short shrift in my house but projects were completed, the house was ready and shortbread fruitcake and suitable libations were on hand.

When the media took on a more prominent role in public affairs, looking back on the year's happenings and outstanding individuals featured in the news became an annual event. The media has the advantage of selecting what was meaningful and what was not.

Experience is undoubtedly a factor in my judgement but it's hard to see much positive in any review of 2008. Without doubt, the American Presidential election came out front and foremost. The entire world waited to see how events would unfold. It was history.

John McCain did not acquit himself in the campaign. One wonders, at a time that called for the best he had to offer, how did that man last as long in American politics? Did he lose his judgement overnight or was its absence obscured by the image of his "heroism"? How could a person of such limitation arrive at a time and place on the world stage with so little sense of what the task required?

Barack Obama on the other hand, was remarkably successful. So much so he seemed to be walking on water. He attained with limited background, the most powerful office in the world at a time when problems are as many and as bad as they could be. He has created great expectations. There is no room for hesitation let alone a false step.

So while the drama plays out on the world stage, at home we finish the knitting, clean every corner, polish the copper and brass to gleam in the flickering firelight. We clear out the rummage from the old year and cheerfully wish each other "All The Best in the New."

All we have to go on is hope, good cheer and being ready. Oddly enough, it seems to be enough.