New Year's Day Celebrations

We brought the New Year in with a bang…just not the type you might think. Our banging came from the sound of our range hood and its shelf being installed. Wild and crazy, we’re not; at least on that day. Matter of fact, we ended up crashing around 9:30, but did wake briefly when the fireworks started around midnight. Needless to say, if you’re looking for party animals to show you the nightlife of Corozal, we’re not the best resources to be had.

But what partying we didn’t do on New Year’s Eve we made up for the next day with back-to-back events. The first was a brunch at Gail and Earl’s house, who live on Four Mile Lagoon. Steady showers in the morning threatened to make the outing a soggy one, but about half hour before we left to pick up Colleen and Bruce – because we are considerate that way and would never think of standing them up and looking for a ride (hehehe) -- the skies started to clear.

The four of us arrived at Gail and Earl’s house and we immediately went on a quick tour. Their grounds are just lovely, being landscaped with all kinds of tropical plants and trees.

I am not ashamed to ‘fess up to the fact that I covet their pool. I can just imagine sitting on the steps or bobbing around in the deep end, looking out to the lagoon, and being perfectly at peace with the world. Sigh…

But those daydreams were short-lived, because more guests arrived and all brought dishes of food, including all kinds of desserts. Talk about a veritable smorgasbord! After a couple of hours, the party started winding down and it was time to make tracks to the next get-together of the day: The Second Annual Polar Bear Swim.

Dave and Dianna Rider not only host the swim, but designed T-shirts that we could all purchase to commemorate the event. Being the generous guy that he is, Dave let us all mix and mingle for a time to build up our nerve before summoning everyone into the pool.

Some of the Polar Bears hanging out by the pool deck

Others hung out under the palapa

Olivia, our fearless mascot

Now you need to understand that the general rule of thumb is that if the water temperature is 82 degrees or lower, it’s going to be a chilly dip. That day, there was a steady breeze that made the difference between the water and air temperature really noticeable. After a few sips of Dianna’s rum punch to strengthen our collective resolve, we made the plunge. Well, some people plunged, while others took their good old time getting acclimated. But whatever the method of entry, we did it! A tough job I know, but we’re a hearty bunch.

All in all, we had a great, great time and came home later in the afternoon having enjoyed every minute of the holiday season – from Christmas and Boxing Day and all the way up to the first day of 2013 – and after a quick dinner, promptly fell asleep.