An (Un)Forgettable New Year’s Eve

 –by Cara Russell –

New Years Eve with Audra Goffeney, Kira Bradshaw, Cara Russell, and Gillian Smith. Photo: Not from Cara’s camera

Toward the end of December I usually find it a little difficult to get into the celebrating mood. This time of year I always feel like a bear has taken up shelter in my mind—a tired, tubby, irritable bear.

I decided that if I were to get into the New Year’s Eve mood, I needed something to jumpstart that energy and, hopefully, eradicate that tired and irritable creature inside. So I paid Carol Whitbeck of Celtic Beauty a visit. I wanted to start 2014 with a rocking a retro hairdo. Give me 1940s. Give me a bold bouffant. Tease my bangs roll them up into swooping liberty curls. “Okie, dokie,” Whitbeck said. “This will be fun.”

While Carol sprayed, curled, and filled my hair with bobby pins, I asked her if she had any New Year’s resolutions. “The big ones are so hard to keep, so every year I work on just being a kinder person,” she said. I asked her what her plans were for the night. “Seafood buffet and mimosas at Rosario,” she answered. Ninety minutes later I wished her a happy New Year, and fun night ahead, and I was on my way.

The night began as many do—at the Lower Tavern, where I waited for a friend to join me. The bar was slowing filling up, and it looked as though it would be a casual night of pints and pool games to ring in the New Year. Also ringing in the New Year was Orcas Issues’ Managing Editor, Lin McNulty, who got to ring the birthday bell at midnight. “If you can guess my age, I’ll buy you a beer,” she announced.

Then it was off to the Olga Energetic Center, for a night of dancing to The Dustbunnies. A few cozy couches furnished the room, and a wood stove warmed the dancing folk. The distinctive sound of The Dustbunnies filled the space with their funk; which moved me enough to awkwardly half dance in the corner. An old friend from High School asked me to dance, and he helped me remember a few swing steps from classes we took over 15 years ago. At midnight champagne was passed around, and I kissed my three gal friends.

With time still left, we headed down the road to the end of the earth (Doe Bay), to catch the last few songs by Seattle band Hobosexual. The show was free, the energy was great, and the music was loud and rockin’ as promised—with a smoke machine and cool lighting system that added to the atmosphere. The Café had cleared the room for dancers, and outside heat lamps and a bonfire warmed the folks engaged in late night conversations and cigarettes.

I reached into my deep coat pockets for my camera, to catch a candid moment, and I found no camera. In the past, I’ve left my keys in the refrigerator, my glasses on a picnic table at Moran State Park, and once even I tried to leave my house without shoes on—so I was not surprised that I had left my it somewhere. Instead of making a New Year’s resolution to be less forgetful (a hopeless cause), I have developed a skill to balance out this shortcoming. I knew exactly where the camera was—in the bathroom, on the sink, left side.

I waited in line for the bathroom to open up again, hoping that either somebody honest, or at least someone very unobservant, was in there. A woman emerged and handed me my camera before I said a word. She had an amused expression on her face. “I looked at the pictures, so I would know who it belonged to,” she said with a smile.

Finally, we called it a night and I drove my friend home. We found a radio station that exclusively played popular karaoke songs, and we sang the whole way; it’s a long drive coming back from the end of the Earth.

Eventually I made my own way home, and poured myself into bed. I laid awake for a while, thinking about the night, and living in this island community. I was looking forward to another year, new friends, and most of all, new stories that I could be a part of and write about for Orcas Issues. The grumpy bear was gone, the night was wonderful, and I got delightful pictures to prove it…Now, if I could just find the cable so I can upload the images.

Happy New Year everyone! And don’t forget to invite Orcas Issues to your events in 2014!