By LPJ
As 2024 peeps around the corner in this side of the world, I look back at 2023. A good year that fleets by so fast. Faster for us, the seniors, and slow for the young ones raring to be grown-ups. It is grace to go through hindsight with a sense of gratitude. And it is with that gratitude that we ruminate on the past with contentment that has brought us to the now that leads to anticipation of the hope and promise of the future. It is a good place to be. So, we stare at the approaching 2024 straight in the face with a determination to make it a good year.
That the new year follows on the heels of a jolly Christmas was perhaps meant to be. All the family bondings and reunions, the partying with friends, the festive celebration over food and gift sharing, in the full enjoyment of the Christmas season — all those seem to be the apt fanfare to usher in a new beginning of an increment of time. The magnitude of God’s love in His son Jesus lays before us a span of opportunities, possibilities and blessings, not without the challenges, but with abundant grace. Thus, we welcome 2024 with open arms.
Linda and Angie — Meeting a high school classmate after 60 years (photo by Angie Guevara)
Allow me to look back at the Christmas season before the New Year. I flew to Los Angeles to spend the holidays with my daughter Joy and son-in-law Matt in Hermosa Beach. The days since December 20th have been a series of grandiose eat-outs, the grandest of which was our Christmas eve dinner at Hotel Bel Air in LA, decked generously with Christmas lights and visited with the sweet smoke scent from the large fireplace in the adjacent lobby. I told my daughter that I wanted a restaurant where singers would regale diners with lively carols. To my delight, carolers in Renaissance costumes wound their way between tables, performing songs upon request. Their a cappella was impressive, much like the traditional caroling of old times. Just before the Bel Air dinner, we watched Nutcracker ballet at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. The Nutcracker has been a regular part of Joy and Matt’s celebration of Christmas, and I so appreciated being drawn into their festive cultural regiment.
The drive to Malibu days after was made more enjoyable with blue skies and bright sunshine on a week spotted with heavy clouds and light rain. But that day was glorious. Big foamy waves laced the shore, and the breeze blew a hint of coolness that called for sweaters and scarfs. The oysters and uni (sea urchin) at Broad Street Oyster Co. were excellent, and so were the deliciously crunchy fish and chips and thick chowder accented with abundant chunks of clams.
On the balmy Wednesday morning, I met up with a high school classmate, Angie, whom I hadn’t seen in sixty years. Angie and I walked the Strand by Hermosa Beach like nothing else mattered but catching up on each other’s news. Naturally, we often paused our animated chats to gaze at the magnificent ocean and the hissing waves beyond a very wide shore. We chose an Italian restaurant to lunch over spaghetti with shrimps and salmon over black rice. The basil and pesto sauce drizzled over the grilled salmon and richly mixed with the noodles satisfied us with its exotic flavor and delicate aroma.
For pre-New Year’s eve, we dined at Petros in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles for an abundant offering of a variety of hummus with thin slices of feta bread, fried calamari, and several entrees of lamb. Tonight, for New Year’s eve, Joy and Matt are readying the meal topped with caviar, berry and peppermint pies.
You can tell, our holiday season has been marked with luxurious dining in festive celebration. But best still is spending vacation with my daughter and son-in-law, Joy and Matt. My son John, daughter-in-law Natasha and grandson Eliott could not join us for the holidays this year because they’re preparing to move to their new house in the East Bay. But we facetimed several times to repeatedly exchange our greetings for the new year and, with John’s camera, have a virtual tour of their new home on the hillside overlooking the San Francisco bay.
So, here we are, eight hours before the bell rings for the new year, and already, we feel the joy of 2024 pushing the doors soon to burst open in this side of the world.
We thank God for 2023 – and pray for a blessed 2024. Happy and blessed New Year everyone!