Hello 2026! First Sunrise of the New Year.

Oh my, we’re already three weeks into the new year! It seems I’ve been so busy watching Elijah and Penelope sail that I neglected my blog. I’ll tell you all about sailing soon, but for now, I want to share about how we rang in the new year before we get any further into 2026.

Like many people around the globe, we celebrated New Year’s Eve with fun festivities, an exciting midnight countdown, and spectacular fireworks. We could actually see fireworks lighting up three different islands, spanning two countries. Between the glow of the moon and the display of lights, it made for one heck of a way to close out 2025!

After all the thrills of midnight, we got to do something even more special the next morning. Bright and early on the 1^st of January, we experienced a pawesome moment only people on the island of St. Croix can. We saw the first United States sunrise of 2026! Having stayed up so late on New Year’s Eve, it was an incredible feat for my humans to get up early enough to join the first-sunrise tradition on the island. As you can imagine, they were a bit tired when the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. Not me, though. I still had tons of energy! I’m always ready to rumble.

After my humans brushed their teeth, brewed some coffee, and grabbed the camera, they were ready to go. While my Newfie siblings were still snoozing, my parents leashed me up and off we went. We stepped into the cool morning air and my nose tingled with excitement. We piled into the car and drove toward the easternmost end of the island.

As we made our way east in the darkness, we noticed an increasing number of people heading in the same direction. By the time we arrived, there were so many folks that we had to park far out and climb a steep road to our destination. As we climbed, I was hit by the rhythmic sound of drums. We followed the drumming, then heard singing and chanting too. Eventually, we saw it—Point Udall, the easternmost point of the United States. We had arrived! As had many others who gathered to welcome in the New Year.

Apparently, some people stayed up all night partying at the point, waiting for the sunrise. That’s a lot of partying. I’m glad we at least got a few hours of sleep. After arriving, we took our seats on a rock wall and waited while the world slowly grew lighter.

It was almost morning when all of a sudden, I saw it—a brilliant orange ball peeking up over the horizon. It grew and grew until the entire sun was shining radiantly over the water. It was so bright I had to squint my eyes, but I didn't want to look away (except to take the occasional slurp of coffee). I was completely mesmerized.

Earlier that morning it had been totally dark. We waited patiently alongside so many others who did the same. We waited with hopeful anticipation for what was to come. It did not disappoint. The beauty was astounding. As the sun climbed higher, the light spread until it covered the whole island. Wrapped in the sun’s glow, people cheered and clapped. They welcomed the sun, welcomed the new year, and welcomed each other.

Once the sun was up, I met some new people, sniffed around, and attempted to eat a chicken bone off the ground (my humans took it away from me… classic). Eventually, folks began heading home, vowing to meet again for the first sunrise next year.

I don’t know if we’ll make it to the sunrise again—most of my humans really like to sleep in, especially after a late night—but this year, it was absolutely worth the tiredness. Plus, we all took a nice long snooze when we got home. Cheers to the new year!