Happy New Year's from Kansas City

It's officially 2010. All that fuss for, what, the chance to say you were alive when it happened? Well, I suppose that's something.

I'm reminded of this poem by Marie Howe from The Kingdom of Ordinary Time:

Ordinary Time
A Thursday -- no -- a Friday someone said.
What year was it?
Just after the previous age ended, it began.
And although the scientists still studied the heavens
and the stars blazed -- if the evening wasn't cloudy --
what happened did not occur in public view.
Some said it simply didn't happen, although others insisted they knew all about it
and made many intricate plans.

Here's how my mom and I spent the night at downtown Kansas City's Power and Light district: