Let's see, what have I done on NYE? Most of them, that I can remember, nothing. During the 21 years I was divorced/single, there was only one time I went to a party. It was held at an Equestrian Center in Norco, California. Some of the guys I knew in rodeo were there. We all just stood around and discussed rodeo. There was a band, but none of us danced. I left the party around 10:30, drove home and went to bed. Since being married for almost 25 years now, wife and I have never gone to a NYE party. We always stay at home and, if we could stay up, watch the Ball come down in NYC. That was it!
My favorite part was watching her dust the coffee tables (~2:35). But how did she know when she was finished?
We always are home on New Year’s Eve, and most other holidays. One good reason is to avoid traffic, especially on New Years, when many people are drinking and driving. Bobby sometimes likes to watch the television festivities, but I am not interested in that, so for me, it is pretty much just like any other night. Where we live, it seems like people think that fireworks are appropriate for any kind of occasion, so the dogs will be wanting to stay inside and do their outside business as fast as possible, and as early as is feasible for that before bedtime.
We were pretty amazed that, last year, we didn't hear nearly as much fireworks going off as we did when we lived in northern Colorado/Loveland. And, as far as gunfire goes, nothing here last year, whereas as Loveland seemed to have a lot of that going on and so did the area of Jacksonville, Florida where we lived. And, unfortunately, many, no matter where they live, love to shoot off their firearms on NYE. The old saying, "what goes up, has to come down" is very true for bullets. It's one thing when people live on acres of land that have nobody living close to those acres, but in a city or town, shooting firearms becomes very dangerous. Do people listen to warnings? Absolutely not!
I've been to a couple of NYE parties, but it's Amateur Night for the drunks on the roads. Back in the day I could rarely stay up til midnight. Since I've been retired, 1AM is an early bedtime for me. Here in the country, we ring in the new year with shotguns. Yee-Haw!
New year's Eve is the fireworks time in most of Alaska. If there is snow on the ground, the wildfire danger is minimal, and you cannot see fireworks on the 4th of July as it is so light. In the "old" days, we had the Christmas PARTY/Open House, and all our friends would gather or make an appearance on Christmas Eve or the day before depending on when it well in the week, and another family would have a New Year's Party on their property on a hill. Everybody could watch fireworks and drink--usually beer if you could keep it from freezing. Partying at -20 F. or lower makes the beer freeze as soon as it is open, so the bottles would have to be warmed by the fire before opening. Wine would also freeze but it was not a problem with the hard stuff--but any mixers would freeze. There were always designated drivers, so that wasn't an issue. These days, since we are now old people, we usually stay home and frequently are in bed before midnight.
@Don Alaska - I think that most of us are not in party mood at this age. Ya know what? I figure that alone keeps us up right and still kicking. Let['s face it " All our rowdy friends have settled on down" , thank goodness.
Yeah, I certainly couldn't take the outdoor parties below zero any more, and I have a hard enough time dealing with family when they are here, much less 50-100 people in an open house.