No doubt when the ball drops tonight in Times square, not a soul will shed a tear for the passing of 2020. The appropriate vitriol this tumultuous year has engendered is only poorly represented by a logo someone has come up of it.
Dare I confess then, that 2020 has been a pretty good year for me and Kathy? I really don’t remember much about those first two COVID free months, except that’s when I started my blog. It was the start of my first full year being retired, and I started to get into a groove, writing, cooking, exercising, and spending time with my missus. As the year continued, and virtual teaching became the norm, having Kathy home all the time became the usual. As our betters figured out what to do with us to protect us from COVID, home was a constant. It became an excuse for cooking; we’ve not had a meal cooked for us by anyone else except for food carts, bar food and travel since February. Daily hikes have become a routine, and I’ve compiled 2 ring binders of trails in the area. The exercise has kept our waistlines down and moods up. We’ve travelled, including a weekend in Chicago just before the meltdown, a foray to Colorado to attend a friend’s memorial service in June, and another trip to Colorado, extended to California, in August. Except for the damned masks and no food or booze on the airplane, travel in the age of COVID wasn’t so bad. Things are less crowded and the fraidy cat COVID averse have stayed home so can’t come down with accusing glares about “unsafe” behavior”.
Yes it’s been sad to miss out on contact with friends and family. But Zoom has allowed us to see their faces and hear their voices. Maybe some of the contacts wouldn’t even have happened were it not for Zoom. At home, we’re blessed with neighbors that know how to throw a party with appropriate social distancing, mostly.
We miss sports. We’re pleased that perhaps not too many people got to see the football Wolverines’ disastrous season. Kathy’s former student, Andrew Vastardis, was starting center, so she was sad not to be able to see him play. But now it’s hoops season, and Juwan’s boys are off to a sizzling start. Kathy claimed another starting center, 5th year senior Austin Davis. He’s out with an ankle injury, and was just holding a place for the big freshman Dickenson, but is a great kid. TAing for Kathy for course credit this term.
Throughout this ordeal, it helps that Kathy and I still like each other. A lot. We slide into next year, facing a lobster tail, shrimp and gravlax New Year’s eve snack, washed down by glühwein, with high hopes for a better 2021. No damned vaccinations!
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