Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, January 8, 2016

To paraphrase a current joke, “I love New Year’s resolutions! I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they slide by.”

So it’s New Year, at least according to the Gregorian and Julian calendars in use by the popular press. Of course, if you need a fresh start because you’ve already loused up this year’s resolutions, there are several others to choose from: Chinese New Year is on Monday, Feb. 8, and this will be the year of the monkey.

Ethiopian New Year, called Enkutatash, is celebrated on Sept. 11. The Thai New Year is April 13 or 14, and is called Songkran; in Cambodia, the dates are the same, but the name is Chaul Chnam Thmey. The Jewish and Islamic calendars both use the same date for the New Year, but vary widely regarding what year number it is. There are others, but you get the picture.

My real question is, why do New Year’s resolutions so closely resemble the thought process used for diets (which in many cases are the same thing)? It’s not the goal-setting I object to; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with aspiring to a better life, however you define that.

What gets me is the double or nothing, success-failure dichotomy that we so often impose. There are Puritans in the woodwork whispering that I am flawed, not good enough, and need to be held rigidly and sternly to some absolute, unattainable standard.

I find myself buying into this form of logic far too often. I secretly suspect that I am a lazy slug who will do nothing with her life but read cheap novels, eat bonbons, and grow fat unless I am whipped out of my complacency.

The truth is that this is hogwash (and by the way, what does one use to wash a hog, and why isn’t it any good?). Why can’t we re-frame the whole thing and vow to be kinder to ourselves and others? 

If I’m forcing my poor body to drag around too much weight, or struggle to breathe, wouldn’t it be kinder to reduce the amount of work it has to do?  Couldn’t the New Year be about care rather than constriction? 

I think this whole resolution process needs to be turned around, so we are trying to appreciate ourselves and one another rather than judge. But then, that’s just my opinion.

In any case, I wish each and every one of you a pleasing, warm, and comfy New Year, filled with all the things you need and hope for.

Coming events 

The Hilltown Seniors meeting will be Jan. 9 at the Hilltown Senior Center on Helderberg Trail. Lunch follows the meeting, so remember to bring your own table service.

There will be a speaker on consumer fraud at the Jan. 12, Helderberg Senior lunch program. Knowledge is power, so come and learn how to defend yourself against cheats and con artists.

Menu

And, the lunchtime menu for next week at the Hilltown Senior Center is here.  Begin the New Year with friends, and enjoy a lunch that you don’t have to cook.  Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at noon. 

— Monday, Jan. 11: Beef Stroganoff, egg noodles, Brussel sprouts, fruit punch, whole-wheat bread, milk, and Mandarin oranges;

— Tuesday, Jan. 12: Chicken cacciatore, tossed salad with Romaine, pasta, wheat or Italian bread, milk, and applesauce cupcake; and

— Friday, Jan. 15: Spaghetti with meat sauce, cauliflower, whole-wheat bread, milk, and tropical fruit.

Please call 24 hours in advance to 872-9400 to reserve lunch.  E-mail , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or e-mail her at , and put volunteer in the subject line.

Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The Hilltown Senior Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.