So long 2010, Hello 2011!

Well, here we are again, breathing down the neck of a shiny new year.

In merely hours, we'll be toasting out 2010 and ringing in 2011. Every year goes by fast, but this one seemed to go particularly so. I suppose that's a good sign, since we all know time flies when you're having fun. It's been a terrific year for Mt. Tom's, despite the continuing to sputter economy. Mother nature gave us a year full of just about the best weather any ice cream purveyor could ask for. Mild, dry spring. Hot, dry summer. Mild, dry fall. Just about snow-free early winter. Ice cream weather perfection. After a truly miserable 2009 weather-wise, with cold, cloudy, and rainy being the weather order of the day until somewhere around mid-August, 2010 was well-deserved payback. Kudos once again to those ECA BearFest bears for saving 2009 from that cold, dark summer. Here's hoping a new sloth of bears returns in 2012 as rumored.

Thanks Mom Nature. Feel free to repeat the star treatment throughout the new year.

Weather aside, 2010 wasn't perfect, and if you're still looking for a job, you may not have many good things at all to say about it. If that's the lifeboat you're in, I wish you better success in 2011.

I will remember 2010 as the year we all got into each other's business. Sure, the internet and email and blogs have been around for years, but it just feels different now. Facebook certainly has played a big role. Along with smart phones, texting, Ipads, Skype, and Twitter. Before 2010, if I wanted to know what my friend Judy had for dinner last night, I'd have to actually call her or bump into her in the supermarket. Now, not only can I know if the asparagus was a little mushy, I can probably see a picture of it, courtesy of her digital constant companions - Iphone and Facebook.

I'm still on the fence as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Will this whole social networking thing flame out in 2011? Is it too late to turn back? Can I still return my I-phone?

But then, how would I update my Netflix queue with the movie I just thought of or set my DirectTV DVR to record tonight's episode of 'How I met your mother' while I'm buying bananas in Big E's supermarket?

Or share with my 1514 fans, my latest ice cream flavor masterpiece?

Time, and it seems technology, wait for no one. You can either jump on the bus or continue to shuffle along the dusty shoulder while your friends (and competitors) wave to you in their rear view mirror.

But not before they invite you to the party you will miss because you don't check your Facebook wall every three minutes.

Living quietly in the woods with a few books, logs for the fire, and fixings for dinner, and without being interrupted by a news update of a deadly plane crash in Mongolia sounds kindof nice, but it's just not the world you and I live in. I say that with confidence because just your reading these words means you're 'connected'. We're connected. Leave a comment and you're connected to all the other Ice Cream Diaries readers who had a few minutes during their day to wander over. It's just that simple here in the now of the waning hours of 2010.

If you've held an Iphone or an Ipad in your hand or swung a Wii bat or gotten your directions from a voice hanging from your dash, I think you'll have a hard time arguing that although we're not yet driving in hovercrafts, the futuristic cartoon world of the Jetson's is upon us.

And I wait with anxious anticipation to see where 2011 takes us.

Which of course is all the more reason to appreciate the little things in life.

A great night's sleep.

A cool pink sunset.

The enthusiasm of children during the holidays.

A walk on the Manhan rail trail.

A hand-scooped ice cream cone.

Thank god it all comes back to ice cream.

Here's wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year. May 2011 be filled with all that you hope for and a little bit more.

Starting at 6 pm today (New Years Eve), we'll be resting and recharging until Friday, February 4th at noon. Thanks for helping make 2010 our best year yet!

Happy New Year!

Jim