Happy and Prosperous New Year to you, Marc!
I have no memories of New Year's celebrations that I could state with confidence, and I wouldn't want to go to Times Square. Too crowded and they use those corrals that once you're in you aren't allowed to leave (even to go to the bathroom, and you have to get there early). Not much of a party if you're in a pen, eh?
Independence Day always evokes memories. The last few years have evoked them even more strongly. I have fleeting memories of a public reading of the Declaration of Independence and a feeling of "Well, we're in it now. No turning back." My loathing for the current administration often stirs up wisps of outrage from years past, a feeling of "We fought a revolution over less!"
Halloween is another one that stirs up memories of rural life, maybe mid-1600s, not sure. I remember peeling an apple in one long curl and tossing it over my shoulder. The letter it suggested when it hit the floor was supposed to be the first initial of the man you would marry. I remember many things that we dismiss as superstition now having once been very real. Of course, I also remember being admonished by an older woman, possibly an elderly aunt or even my grandmother, not to indulge in such foolish fancies, that we girls would be better off spending our time tending to our sewing rather than playing with forces that could very well be from the Devil himself. Ah, but I was a young girl in love, and foolish fancies were my prerogative! I remember my friends giggling with delight as the apple peel formed a distinct 'R', my heart-throb's name being 'Robert'! I do not remember my own name. I want to say "Madeline", but I'm not sure. I believe this incarnation was in New England somewhere.
I, at least, don't think that a lack of PL Christmas memories may indicate thus. Memories are made by impressions- and impressions indicate attachment. One could have celebrated it and forgotten...or, one may not need to remember such a thing. Those are just my thoughts, though.
