NEW YEAR’S EVE CHALLENGE

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Bryce Angell – The outdoors has always been a large part of my life. My father was an outfitter and guide for 35 years and I was there to shoe and care for the horses and help him do the cooking. We took many great trips into the Yellowstone area. Even now that I’m older, we still ride into the Tetons, Yellowstone and surrounding areas. My poems are mostly of personal experience. I am now retired and enjoying life to the fullest. I plan to do more riding and writing.

My wife gave me a challenge, one night on New Year’s Eve, to welcome in another year. I must have been naïve.   

I’m usually in the sack same time as chickens hit their light. So for me to stay up extra late was really going to bite.

I hoped to stay awake by drinking Coconut Red Bull and munching down on smokie links. I could eat a belly full.

My wife bought cheese and crackers and she made her onion dip. Was I ready for the evening? This one I’d like to skip.

The kitchen clock chimed 8 p.m. with four more hours to go. My eyes were getting sleepy. Staying awake was touch and go.

At nine o’clock I ate the smokies, crackers and the cheese. Then tanked down all my Red Bull. Sleep was putting on the squeeze.

This time of night I usually watched the back of my eyelids. I realized this challenge was for crazy, younger kids.

At eleven sharp I closed my eyes to get a wink or two.  It seems those winks turned out to be a little more than few.

I thought I heard my wife say, “Hon, it’s almost twelve o’clock.” By then I didn’t give a hoot. I was sleeping like a rock.

When I woke and looked around the room, I’d somehow climbed in bed.  And then I heard my wife exclaim, “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

How does a husband live it down?  A wife just seems to know. She’d warned me not to close my eyes. Now she’s saying, “Told you so.”

Will I ever stop accepting a challenge from my wife? I know I should resist. It seems to always cause me strife.

So next year when it’s New Year’s Eve, sleep won’t be such a shock. I won’t be celebrating.  I’ll be in bed at eight o’clock.

  – Bryce Angell