Mood: party time!
All my Mexican neighbors are outside shooting off fireworks and playing that weird Germanesque music of theirs. The lady of the house next door ---a sweet grandmother named Maria--- came over to me as I leaned against my car and wished me un feliz a?o nuevo. I repeated her phrase and then wished her a happy new year. I gave her a hug and we exchanged our other mutually unintelligible remarks and then she went back to her house.
No fuegos in my yard, I told her. I am still watching for some.