It is always surprising how refreshing it is to come upon New Year, how vital the idea of starting over always is. Of course there is no starting over, not really. But the promise of the new year is not merely a metaphor or a delusion.... To live without a sense of promise is barely to live at all.

There is some strange genius in New Year. The turning of the calendar does nothing to cauterize the past. But here in the dead of winter - with most of winter well in front of us - New Year comes as a reminder of how much regeneration lies ahead. The sun will roll northward again, and the soil will warm, and whether we care to know it or not, the earth will do its best to rejuvenate itself.

- "The House of Time," New York Times editorial published on January 1, 2006


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