My beloved bought a bottle of fine champagne for New Year’s. We could not wait past ten o’clock, though. And so we uncorked it exactly at midnight Baghdad time.

Addendum I (January 1, 2016)

It was a few minutes before ten in the evening when my beloved started searching on her mobile phone for a major city where it would be midnight soon. When she came up with Baghdad, we were both excited. Over the moon, I started talking about Harun al-Rashid, the Prince of Believers. We wished each other all the best next year as though it was midnight already, and I started raving about one of my favorite books as we sipped our champagne. The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night makes me happy, indeed. Our New Year’s in Baghdad was a godsend, no less.

Addendum II (January 1, 2017)

This year among years, we could not wait past seven-thirty in the evening. My beloved brought a bottle of the same champagne, and we uncorked it exactly at midnight Bombay or Mumbai time. Hey, what in the world could be wrong with India? Many of the stories from one of my favorite books go all the way to the magical subcontinent. And magical it undoubtedly is. Happy New Year all around!

Addendum III (January 1, 2018)

Well, well. Nothing much changed this year, except that we uncorked the champagne at seven o’clock and wished each other all the best. To our surprise, this was exactly at midnight Dakha time. And what could possibly be wrong with Bangladesh, either? Eastward ho!

Addendum IV (January 1, 2019)

We were far from bashful this year, and we uncorked our favorite champagne at six o’clock. What the heck?! To our joy, this turned out to be midnight Hanoi time. The way we are going, we will end up celebrating New Year’s in Kyoto, of all places. And that would mark the end of our eastward drive, I reckon. For all our zest, ending the year at four o’clock in the afternoon is a bit early for our taste. At least for the time being, I hasten to add. No matter our age difference, which changes not an iota from year to year, both of us are getting ever longer in the tooth.

Addendum V (January 1, 2020)

Happily, our eastward drive is over at last! Indeed, this year we celebrated New Year’s Kyoto time. As the Pacific stretches out right in front of us, now we are stuck at the far end of Asia. So be it, though. In the years to come, we have a wide array of choices available to us: Baghdad, Bombay or Mumbay, Dakha, Hanoi, Kyoto… And we have tried them all in no more than five short years. By now, we are pros at uncorking champagne when it suits our fancy. As far as we are concerned, the clock can go fly a kite. Happy New Year all around the globe!

Addendum VI (December 30, 2023)

Well, well. My beloved bought a bottle of fine champagne for New Year’s once again, but she had to leave a day earlier. Her parents are not well, and she wanted to visit them together with her brother as soon as possible. Thus we celebrated New Year’s no less than a couple of days in advance. This time around, there was no place on this planet that could possibly fit our extraordinary timing, but we enjoyed it to the hilt nonetheless. As we always do on such occasions, we reclined on piles of cushions arranged around the fireplace in my house. The champagne was also delicious no matter the date. After all, who gives a flying hoot about hours or dates! New Year’s is but a silly invention of the human species, anyway.