Reflections on New Year's Eve - NYC and Carlisle, Indiana

New Year's Eve celebrations began at Times Square in NYC as early as 1904. In 1907 the 'ball drop' was added. That first New Year's Eve Ball was an iron and wood sphere, 5-feet in diameter lit with 100 hundred lightbulbs. 

The Ball has been lowered each year since 1907 except during 1942 and 1943 when the ceremony was suspended during World War II.

The original Ball was replaced in 1920 by a 400-pound one made of wrought iron. Then in 1955 the iron Ball was abandoned for an aluminum one weighing 150 pounds. Several upgrades to the Ball were made in the 1980s and 1990s.

Then, for the 2000 celebration the New Year's Eve Ball was completely redesigned by Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting for a spectacular beginning of the a new millennium.

Read more about the Ball at: http://timessquareball.net/new-years-eve-ball-history/  

poem by G.W.Clayton from Moth at the Window

Times Square 1907
Image courtesy of millehomme.blogspot.com

Write a Book

So you want to write a book. Every book starts with the first sentence. If you cannot think of the first sentence then start with the second sentence. The point is to just get your ideas on paper. You can review it all later, but to starting can be a battle. 

In “Bird by Bird” author Anne Lamott advises just putting your words on paper.

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.” 
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Just start. Start writing. Start your journal. Start the blog. Write every day. Try to write at the same time each day. If you are a deadline person, give yourself one.  Write about anything. Write about a person you know well. Write about a childhood memory. Write.                          

Carlisle Indiana - What it was When

It is hard to know what Carlisle was like when G.W. Clayton was a young man. Certainly it was a vibrant community in those days with morning and evening posts, trains traversing the tracks and businesses florishing in downtown.

I remember Robert's Garage, the Rexall drugstore and Dr. Cox 's Barbed Wire Linament. Here are some photos from Carlisle Indiana Heritage on Facebook.
Perhaps you can share what you remember as well.