Dropping the potato

Happy New Year, everyone! How many people plan to (or watched, depending on when you see this blog post) the ball drop in Times Square?

We sure didn’t. It’s almost physically impossible for me to stay up until midnight (though as an early bird, it’s not unusual for me to get up around 3:30 am to 4 am in the morning), so I don’t even try.

Besides, it’s not like there’s a lot going on in our rural neck of the woods on New Year’s Eve. We might hear a few gunshots at midnight as someone sends a blast skywards, but that’s it. That’s fine with me. There are few things I’d want to do less than cram myself into such a crowded place as Times Square, especially at the turn of the year.

But just today in church, our pastor mentioned something in passing that somehow – despite living in Idaho for 20 years – we’d never heard about: the Idaho Potato Drop.

Yes, Idaho has a modest New Year’s Eve celebration of its own at the state capital in which an 18-foot potato with wings is “dropped” from a crane, because … of course it is.

“The Idaho Potato Drop, it’s Idaho’s signature holiday event that has been happening for 11 years,” says this article. “We celebrate New Year’s Eve and ring in the New Year together with the dropping of a giant Idaho potato, a great firework show, lots of live entertainment, VIP experiences, and a ski and snowboard exhibition right on the Capitol grounds at Cecil D Andrus Park.”

Well, why the heck not. 

I doubt I’ll ever see the Idaho Potato Drop for the simple reason it’s at the other end of the state (and would also require venturing into dense crowds), but I’m pleased to live in a place with such a goofy and fun tradition.

Happy New Year, dear readers. Let’s pray 2024 is not a dumpster fire, but instead is full of fun and silly things such as winged potatoes.