Church of Twain: Here’s to the harmless institution

VIRGINIA CITY – I dropped by the office of the Territorial Enterprise only to find it closed and its most celebrated scribe gone for the day. Even old Dan DeQuille, the journalistic journeyman known as the “Washoe Giant,” was missing from his usual seat at a nearby saloon.

Undaunted, I will press on in 2010. I wish to send out a celebratory toast to everyone throughout the territory for a health and prosperous 2010. I can think of no better way to do so than by quoting St. Mark Twain on the subject of New Year’s Day.

In January 1863, Twain wrote a letter to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise on the subject of the change of the calendar and the nature of the New Year’s resolution.

He wrote, “New Year's Day -- Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time. However, go in, community. New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls, and humbug resolutions, and we wish you to enjoy it with a looseness suited to the greatness of the occasion.”

I couldn’t agree more. Go in, community. Today is indeed a harmless institution.

Tomorrow, pal, the real work begins.