As we all settle into 2009 (note the change, those of you still writing 2008 on your papers), I decided that someone should oppose the flow. Being the brave soul that I am, I elected to take up that battle myself.

While the rest of you float along, willingly carried by the current that looks ahead to the New Year and all its possibilities for glory, I will be swimming in the opposite direction.

Note: If I should start to drown, please contact my father. He’s a good swimmer.

I think that those who did not make it to the dawn of the year before the double-digits should be remembered. You may want to grab a box of Kleenex as I begin my lamentation of those we have pushed out of our lives.

I shall start with Pluto. The poor ex-planet was so rudely kicked out of planethood. Being a dwarf planet is not nearly as sophisticated as the real deal. You keep your head up, Pluto. I know Neptune misses you-he told me so as we watched star explosions the other night-and the sun feels guilty for making you shiver all those years.

I know they may have demoted you, but don’t let that stop you. So you’re a little smaller than the others and your orbit is not as perfectly carved. Keep spinning in circles and everything will be okay. Dwarf planets can do great things, too.

Dear Tasmanian tiger, pristine mustached bat, New Caledonian owlet-frogmouth, Canarian black oystercatcher, Banff longnose dace, Monkey Spring pupfish, Queen of Sheba’s gazelle or Vietnam warty pig, this one’s for you. Bear with me (no pun intended, Pleistocene cave bear) as I speak for a vast group of the forgotten: the extinct.

We have been pushing animals out of what we claim to be OUR world since our beginning.

Sure, maybe they got hungry and ate some livestock. They probably did it because their food died in the wake of habitat destruction that humans caused. It’s only fair. If we mess with their food chains, they’re going to mess with ours, too. So this shout-out is for the lot of you that were forced to walk the plank with no option of parlay.

My heart goes out to the last group on my list. Any native tribes, from the Native American to those of Malaysia, I’m sorry that we rounded you up and kicked you out. I know that this has happened to many groups, and you are not forgotten, either.

But I am specifically calling attention to those deemed inferior because they chose being at one with the earth over technological advancement.

For you who stood firm in your culture, heritage and traditions, I salute and admire you.

I’ll leave with this, as sung by Rise Against in “Prayer of the Refugee:”

“Warm yourself by the fire, son, and the morning will come soon. I’ll tell you stories of a better time in a place that we once knew. Before we packed our bags and left all this behind us in the dust, we had a place that we could call home and a life no one could touch…So open your eyes, child. Let’s be on our way. Broken windows and ashes are guiding the way. Keep quiet no longer; we’ll sing through the day of the lives that we’ve lost and the lives we’ve reclaimed.”