2020 Nipping At Our Heals

As I look back to 2019 – I can’t believe how fast it went. I spent a lot of time with family in Washington while Dan built the cabin. Highlights I blogged about were spending Christmas 2018 with my daughter, grandkids, and the rest of the family. I managed to organize a family game night – which isn’t easy with work schedules, kids sports, and some of them traveling down from Canada. I went with my sisters to Seaside, a fun trip with my daughter to visit my son and his family in Reno. My family from Canada made a second trip to see my granddaughter, Jo, in one of her plays and spent an extra day with me, enjoying the downtown Seattle sights. Then Dan and I wrapped up our summer with our youngest daughter’s wedding. It’s been a whirlwind of a year. But, there are a couple of more notables that deserve to be mentioned as I wrap up my 2019 blogs.

Funny Story – On December 5th, I flew from Seattle to Green Bay, with a stop in Minneapolis. During my last leg flight, I had a young man sitting next to me. I didn’t get his name, so I’ll call him Sam. I did mention, however, that this little incident would wind up in a blog…to which he laughed and said that is fine with him. To lay the groundwork for this tale, did you know that on your phone – if you press the side button or top button (depending on phone model) 3-5 times quickly, you will alert an emergency service? It is an SOS feature – I still haven’t tried it, but it’s a good thing to get acquainted with – I think. Here’s the deal, it works in “airplane mode” as well. Who would have thought, right? And it was a surprise for everyone sitting around this young man. He had his earbuds in listening to music, minding his own business when he attempted to turn down the volume. He pressed the side button five quick times, and just like that, an alarm went off – shaking all of us out of our daydreams, movie watching, and naps. My, and likely others, first thought was something was wrong with the plane. It was a siren type alarm. My mind started whirling with not-so-good possibilities…until I realized it was coming from the guys’ phone next to me. The funny thing is the kid didn’t realize the signal was coming from his phone until it dawned on him that his music had stopped playing. He was so apologetic and embarrassed. We all got a chuckle out of it (some stayed grumpy) once our hearts returned to a normal rhythm. What I loved was his response at the end, “Only need to do that once to learn it works, right?”

Acts of Kindness – Once or twice a week, Dan and I go to town, and many times our trips include laundry. Dan and I have been going to the same laundromat in Escanaba for years. They are a full service, so the shop is always staffed. I don’t know them personally, but I’ve enjoyed chatting with them now and then. Karen (I’ve recently learned her name) has even helped us bring our laundry to our car. Routinely, we run errands during the washing/drying of our items. I set an alarm on my phone so we know when to switch it out to avoid holding up machines for other customers. The other day we were running late due to unforeseen issues and when we came back to fold our clothes, Karen had just finished folding them for us – you read that right – the lady had folded our clothes – truly a treat. It was not a busy day, so our being late didn’t interfere with machine usage. This act of kindness is what it means to live in a small town. In many cases, people treat you more like family then a customer. 

Loss – As I mentioned in my August blog, Dan and I have a friend, Jack, and how we would stay overnight at his place in Newago, Michigan. Jack was a friend of Dan’s dad, so they had known each other for the majority of Dan’s life. Over the years, Dan built a friendship with Jack, keeping their 60+ memories alive. I loved hearing about Dan and his life from Jack’s perspective. Learning about Dan’s parents, and many other people that passed before I could meet them. We had many enjoyable visits with Jack. In November, Jack passed away at 85 years old, leaving a hole in the hearts of many. He has joined his wife, Deloris, the love of his life, and is likely wearing a big smile right now. Jack was a beautiful spirit, loved, and will be missed by all who knew him.

R.I.P. Jack Marks

As for 2020 – I don’t make resolutions, but I do set some goals for myself. I want to finish my next novel (I currently have three chapters done, and it looks like they are going back to the drawing board) – I’d like to work on my autobiography. I can hear those chuckles “why is she writing an autobiography, she isn’t famous or important” – and with that, you would be correct. However, I want my children to have the story of my life and how I became who I am because I never had that opportunity with my parents. I did learn to understand them but would have loved their take on their childhood and early adulthood. I also have been told by non-family members that they would love to hear my story in its entirety after hearing an incident or two. And, of course, writing is healing to me, so what can it hurt, right?

I also have a new macro filter I’ll be testing out, and other photography work. I can’t get enough of clicking that shutter, so that leaves a lot of work to do in keeping up with filing photos, editing, and hitting the delete button – always a challenge. With the water freezing around here in Upper Michigan, I plan to get many shots of the ice effects. As we drove over one bridge, Dan slowed down so I could get a photo of “The Islands of Ice” – Dan’s idea for a name, which I loved…very fitting. This was after a day of sun, so it changes almost daily. Photography is such a passion, and I can’t get enough.

Dan and I have a trip planned to Washington at the end of February, and we’ll be there for a couple of weeks – you’ll hear all about it afterward. It looks like we will work out a trip to Colorado on our way back with my car. This summer, Dan and I are planning to caravan with another couple to Alaska – that should be a trip of a lifetime for us.

All-in-all, it will be a full year for us. We still have a lot of work on the cabin and property to do. We need to act retired and take some mini sightseeing trips, visit family members, and friends, that are spread out across the states and Canada, and be kind to ourselves with some simple downtime.

I hope this past year has been good to you, that the new year brings you much happiness – and that you take time out for yourself. As always, thank you for reading my ramblings, and Happy New Year to you all.