Spanish views from a small town

As I looked at my neglected garden this morning, I realized that we are already in November. Yet, I seem to be missing a chunk of the year. It's always been cold this year, it seems, though we have gone through a kind spring, and a beautiful summer.  There have been no markers to set off any of the different months or seasons. We have been told we have to stay home, and avoid crowds. Festivals have been cancelled, and all sorts of celebrations. We have heard reports of family gatherings that have propagated the virus in communities. Few options are open to us for getting together. It's been a year of the individual. But man is a social animal. That is why there are celebrations at certain points of the year. We have always felt the need as a society to get together and celebrate markers along the year. These are communal festivities that remind us of the passing of time. Without them, the year drags along emptily; we could be in any season or month, and we only have the surroun...

December 31st and the year is at an end. These are days for reflection on what has gone before and awaiting what will come in the next year. When I was growing up in Boston my parents and I watched the news on WCVB. There was a Lifestyle commentator and critic who, every December 31st had a tradition. His spot on that evening would always consist of him saying, very fast, brand names of things that had been fashionable the previous year. It lasted less than a minute, and toward the end he would begin to slow down and would end at a normal speed. There were no sentences, simply names. That is the memory I have. A compilation of the year in our daily lives. But this is an artificial ending. Every day is the end of a year. December 31st is simply the end of the calendar year. And it's only wherever the Gregorian calendar is followed. Yes, it's now a civil calendar and used internationally so that everyone knows what day the other is talking about. Still, there are broad areas in...