Happiness Is A Warm Puppy

I was signing some Christmas cards last Christmas season and thought of the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year that we throw around so lightly, and started to wonder, as I often do, what do we really mean when we say Happy New Year.  Certainly we don’t mean it as an adjective modifying the noun, because it’s non-sensical to think that something inanimate, such as a new year, can be happy.  Everyone knows that only people or puppies can be happy. And I am happy.  Flat out.  No doubt about it.  If you would have asked me, I may have had a hard time defining happiness or even why I am happy, but there you are,  I am happy.  Having gone this far, however, I...

Happiness is a Warm Puppy

I was signing some Christmas cards and thinking of the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year that we throw around so lightly at this time of year, and started to wonder what do we really mean when we say Happy New Year.  Certainly we don’t mean it as an adjective modifying the noun, because it’s non-sensical to think that something inanimate, such as a new year, can be happy.  Everyone knows that only people or puppies can be happy. And I am happy.  Flat out.  No doubt about it.  If you would have asked me, I may have had a hard time defining happiness or even why I am happy, but there you are,  I am happy.  Having gone this far, however, I decided to go a bit...