Happy New Dear It is the second day of the year, so we shall be forgivenfor the rehashing of the old male escape to illusion in “a happy new dear”! That tells you how dated I am; it is now theladies who are regurgitating the phrase. On the year count, let us not quibble over the Julian or theGregorian calendars. The Julian is older(ever heard of Julius Caesar?) and one of the Gregory Popes calibrated it so wenow have three years of 365 days and 366 on leap year, and we are within just afraction of calibration to make the system operational. Of course, with the solar system still evolving, we do notknow how the year will be counted to the exact houe, nor will the rotation lenditself to such count, but for now, the Gregorian Calendar serves our purposes, dank u. The Chinese are not really promoting the traditional lunarcount, or their version of the solar rotation, but we might yet arrive at amore rational calendar system than the stellar count of the Western Zodiac andthe Eastern animal count including the Year of the Imaginal Dragon in the East. The day count is saner than the seasonalone. The northern lights are calledAurora Borealis while the southern lights are Australia Borealis but areessentially the same, only six months apart, but there we go with the monthsagain. North and Oz are nonetheless goodmates, though they are separated by the same language. While the Romans provided us with the naming of 12 months toa year, and both Occident and Orient have Zodiacs of 12 of years thoughdiffering in application (this often throws many when they hear of anOriental’s age at NMC, often a year ahead of the Gregorian count as one is ayear old the day one is born in China, Japan, and Korea. Other than when purchasing tobacco and alcoholic beveragesat the store, does it really matter? Well, it probably does when being called into the Selective Service ifthe choice is whether one wants to join now or defer until later. Again, this is a matter of decision, and inthe public domain, neither here nor there. Today remains a holiday in the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain,the United Kingdom and the United States that mark the first of January as anational holiday, and having the day fall on a Sunday this year, the following Mondayautomatically becomes a national holiday. Feliz Año Nuevo 2017. That is January 2this year. And “The Happy New Year,Happy New Dear” greetings remain valid. Kiskis ko miss karu kiskis kiss karu tumhehi miss karu totum hi ko na kiss karu. HappyNew Year dear. It is Hindi – not the Filipino “No”, but the Hindi of the SouthAsian continent. The song is actually alover’s wishes for a Happy New Year, dear! I thought it was a greeting for a Happy New Dear. I just got a note from a friend who is active in voluntarycommunity work in the Diocese of Pasig. HerDiocesan Bishop with a last name “Vergara” celebrated the Mass at herFoundation that provides housing and care for underage runaway girls. When told that I was a friend who hails fromthe Nueva Ecija area with the same last name, the Bishop told her that theVergaras in that region are good looking and are natural lovers of women. Of course, she added the “ha! ha!” at the end to make theindirect “accusation” palatable, but I probably number with the Bill Clintonsand Donald Trumps of the world who thought it was their prerogative as males tojust grabbed what they wanted, especially of the pulchritudinous type, untilslapped on the thigh by the liberated femmefatale. The good-looking Padre mighthave donned the habit as a Man of the Cloth to avoid the consequences of hislooks, as well. The Mongsigñor could not very well greet one with “Happy NewDear”, being eternally married to theotokos,Mother Mary the mother of God, but at least, he knows from where he speakswithout being religiously condemnatory about it. At my age, good looks and a flair for women is de ja vu as we did have our share duringour younger years to a reputation undeserved, but we shan’t tarnish the happyillusion. I was more of the “victim” than the “victimizer” among the women, andthat would be the end of the story, in spite of the raised eyebrows. But I could say, “Happy New Dear” withauthenticity. My wife is Chinese who I met in Saipan, and has been in and outof the CNMI, attended to her elderly parents in China and tended our new housethat we bought just after I was a lao shu(teacher) at Hang Gong Hang Tian DaXue (Shenyang Aerospace U). Married for five years, we thought it was time to apply for the“green” card after my petition was approved a year ago. She joined me in Saipan September, so theHappy New Dear applies. He! He! He! With 60% of US marriages hitting the rocks, it is actually notunrealistic to hear the greetings of “Happy New Dear” sincerelypronounced. I neither condemn norcondone the situation; I am just describing the simple truth. So here she went and greeted herself and all: Happy New Year anda Happy New Dear! wangzhimu2031 earthrise consciousness, a gift; earthbound commitment, my choice yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate! in all, celebrate!