So it's almost the end of 2008. I guess this is the time of year when people traditionally look back over the old year and forwards towards the new one. But this year it all leaves me feeling rather cold. And it's not just because the temperature has been below zero for the last few days.
Hogmanay, as we Scots call New Year's Eve, used to be a very big deal in my country. It is a time with lots of traditions where people came together to celebrate, usually with copious amounts of our national drink being partaken. In my parents' day, whole towns would come together visiting each other's houses and celebrating from "the bells", which mark midnight onwards.
Parties went on late into the night, or even well into Ne'erday itself. And 2 January is still a public holiday in Scotland to allow that extra day to recover!
The first person to come through the door of a house was known as the "first foot" and it was considered lucky if this person was a relative or a good friend, and even more so if he was tall, dark and handsome.
By the time I was old enough to be involved, the parties were not quite as widespread, perhaps because drinking late into the night was a pretty common custom at any time of the year. But I did host a few damn good New Year parties in my student days!
Now I find that fewer and fewer people bother to mark the occasion, and New Year is now very much the poor relation of Christmas. And that's partly why I find myself planning a quiet night in on 31 December this year.
2008 hasn't been a bad year really. OK, I've had some low times, but that's life. I've not managed to sell my books – yet! And I only managed one trip over to the US this year as the pound continues to fall through the floor.
But I'm still alive and healthier than I have been for a long time, physically at least. I'm in a better position than many as the credit crunch bites deeper. And I managed to get through an entire year without a single drink for the first time since I was about 12!
New Year just seems such a random event to celebrate: the fact that by some convention the calendar turns over to a new year. Why 1 January? What makes this date so special? And will anything really change between the last day of one year and the first of another to make it worth celebrating anyway?
In ancient times, Celts would celebrate the turn of the year with the Samhain festival on 31 October, with the new year starting on 1 November. Samhain was the night when the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead become thinner, allowing spirits and other supernatural entities to pass between the worlds to socialize with humans. This ancient tradition was of course corrupted to form the children's favorite of Halloween.
Other cultures celebrate their new year on a variety of different dates; some being set dates and some dependent on phases of the moon. But all of them are nothing more that tradition.
Maybe I'm just on a down at the moment. Maybe I think about things too much! Or maybe I'm turning into the New Year equivalent of Scrooge. But I won't be partying and I won't be making any resolutions this year.
Although I do hope that if you are in the mood for celebrating tomorrow night you enjoy it!
Oh, and a Happy New Year to all when it comes.