“Auld Lang Syne.”

Garland Davis

Here I sit looking back and ahead to what is to come in 2017.  It is thought that January is named after the Roman God Janus who had one face looking backward and one looking forward.  It is appropriate for the time of year.  A person looks back at the past with introspection and forward to the future with expectation

Let me take some time to look back over 2016 and the events that affected me:

-I have never kept a New Year’s Resolution. I made two for 2016.  I vowed to start smoking and to gain fifty pounds.  I failed again.  I give up on resolutions.

-I became Seventy-two years old. Who woulda thunk, back in the day, that I would live this long?

-I attended the fourth Asia Sailor Westpac’rs reunion in Branson, MO.  The most fun you can have with your clothes on.

-I celebrated fifty-one years of marriage to a woman I love more than she can know.

-I got tired of driving a stick shift and bought a new car.

-And thanks to the internet and Facebook, I am in touch with so many old and some new friends.

-My Blog turned a year old with over one hundred thousand views in 2016.  Does this qualify me as a writer?

-My Parkinson’s disease didn’t appear to get any worse.  I only fell once, and I lay that at the feet of Coor’s Light, not the PD. Maintaining!

-We all lived through a roller coaster year of expectation and despair.  Yes, I am talking about the elections!

-I miss the Navy just as much or more than I did at this time last year.

 

As for 2017:

-As Doris Day said in her song:  ♫Que Sera Sera♫ (Whatever will be, will be)

-I do know that I will be at the Asia Sailor Westpac’rs reunion in Branson in May.

-All I can do is hope that our new president is good for our country!

-As for the rest, we’ll see!

 

The song that everyone knows as “Auld Lang Syne.” Based on a poem by poet Robert Burns, the lyrics are in Burns’ Scottish-inflected English of the late 18th century.  ‘Auld Lang Syne” literally means “old long since,” but can be rendered as “days gone by” or “old times.” The song is asking a question: “Is it right that old acquaintances and old times should be forgotten?”

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
And days of auld lang syne, my dear,
And days of auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pu’d the gowans fine.
We’ve wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin’ auld lang syne.
Sin’ auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin’ auld lang syne,
We’ve wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin’ auld ang syne.
We twa hae sported i’ the burn,
From morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin’ auld lang syne.
Sin’ auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin’ auld lang syne.
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin’ auld lang syne.

And ther’s a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine;
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

 

A more understandable version:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
And days of auld lang syne, my dear,
And days of auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?

We two have run about the slopes,
And picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
Since auld lang syne    

We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dine
But seas between us broad have roared
Since auld lang syne

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught
For auld lang syne

Being Asia Sailors, we are all prone to take a right good-will draught from time to time.  If you do so in celebrating the demise of 2016 and to welcome 2017, please do not drive. You may save a life, even your own.