Happy New Year

It never ceases to amaze me how predictable people can be. Not predictable in the day to day necessarily (although I can tell you exactly where Dan will be every other Monday around 6pm), but predictable in a sort of lunar way. People ebb and flow in their behavior and if you pay attention, a pattern will always emerge.
I was driving my usual route this afternoon to pick up Bronwen, through the business park, past the women’s hospital and past the huge fitness center, when I was temporarily confused to see a parking lot so full it looked like some sort of Kiss revival concert at the coliseum; people in spandex everywhere. I asked myself, is this the right way to the daycare? Maybe I took a turn too early. Then I realized it was the parking lot for the giant fitness center. Now, I laugh to myself every morning and evening when I pass by this place. There are usually a few extremely fit young women and men (probably instructors) and a couple of slightly overweight people making their way into the gym. The parking lot usually has so few cars, if it weren’t for the people shuffling into the front door, the place might as well be closed. But this afternoon, the parking lot, so full that the cars were spilling out onto the grass, sidewalk, curb and finally into the street, had met its match. For a second I was completely befuddled. Why would so many people be here? Had there been some sort of celebrity sighted? Was someone giving away free turkey dinners? Could it be that someone had finally figured out a way to work off that Christmas flab in one day? Then, in a flash, the answer appeared as if in a vision; JANUARY 2nd. Ah ha! New Years resolutions are such a pain in the ass.