The 21st Century Arrives
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” we shouted, as Wendi got the fuse lit. Three seconds later a piercing shriek was heard. The last fountain had sound effects! The scream lasted a few seconds; then showers of sparks were seen. Over the next half minute or so, dozens of “bangs” were heard from all over the neighborhood. Several other people must have realized, too, that this was The Big One, and they were announcing it in their own grand style.
A cloud of smoke drifted overhead to the south, illuminated by the street lights. To me, it looked like the 20th Century had passed away in a large puff of smoke. I photographed the smoky cloud on the digital camera. It was now two minutes past midnight.
We had half a dozen confetti pops left in our assortment of fireworks, which we set off when we were back upstairs. The living room was now a mess, between the confetti, which clung to the ceiling, floor and our clothing, and the dirty plates and cups. We didn’t care. We had survived the 20th Century and were safely now into the 21st!
Soon I had all of the old calendars down and had replaced them with new 2001 calendars. I looked at the Home page on our website, and to my dismay, the countdown had not stopped but was now running in reverse, with negative numbers everywhere! I let Wendi and Joe run the FTP program to publish the new pages, which were already prepared.
We were so wound up after all of this that it took until 1:30 a.m. before we finally got to sleep. It was a night to remember, but the rest of our lives would have to wait until morning.