Happy 2014!

Another year is finished.  Can't believe how fast time goes.  We didn't get home until 2 a.m.  The fire works were going off pretty consistently as soon as it got dark until midnight.  While we were walking to the Madsen's, it was so loud that it reminded me of a war zone.  I could not believe how dressed up people were.  Formals and tuxes were the usual dress.  Public transportation was packed because if  you drive drunk in Denmark - your car is taken away and never returned plus there is usually jail time.  With cars so expensive anyway, nobody wants to risk it.

At midnight the fireworks were going off in earnest, all around us and the sky was lit up with color and then smoke.  I heard the last series of fireworks go off this morning at 5.  I could not believe how much money and time went into the displays.  We had to come home when the Sister Missionaries did - so there was a chaperone in the car.  As we drove down the streets of the suburbs, the roads were littered with boxes and shells from the fireworks.  There wasn't even a way to dodge them in some places.  For $100, you could buy a box of fireworks that were then lit from the outside of the box.  Whatever was in the box then would go up.  Some of the home fireworks were the kind the professionals use that shoot up in the sky.  Mostly the home ones are fountains and the noisy firecrackers.  The harbor last night was lit from one end to the other.  Then the glass buildings were reflecting the fireworks and making it even more spectacular.   There was no way to take a picture, or I would have.  It was beautiful but believe it or not, after watching for more then an hour - it was getting monotonous.

Today we just stuck around the apartment - because nothing was open.  I watched the original 'Wizard of Oz' and 'Singing in the Rain.'  The new 'Spiderman' is on right now.  I have tried a couple of times to watch that but I just can't get into it.  I also watched 'The Princess and the Frog' by Disney - but after I had watched it for an hour - almost to the end - I realized it was in German and I was understanding it.  I went ahead and finished it but I have to be careful and not watch too much German.

There is a ritual here that you plunge into the sea and wash away the last year.  The headline translation was 'Horny Danes Jump in the Copenhagen harbor'.  Clyde and I about died laughing.  We think they meant Crazy Danes.  At least in the video we watched, everyone was wearing a swimsuit.  Apparently that is now required.

Have a wonderful New Year.  Pray that tomorrow we can get the glass for our cradle that holds the books.  We don't want to be 'down' too long.