I'm afraid the best thing I can say about 2021 is that is was better than 2020. As in the case of every year, it was filled with peaks and troughs. Luckily, I'm on really good drugs to level things out. I will never be ashamed to admit I need help on a daily basis. My not very secret recipe involves 2 dogs, 2 cats, friends, good books, and 3 capsules of an anti-depressant called Effexor. Yee and Haw!!!
This past week has been the epitome of the year. Losses overshadowed the accomplishments of the week. John Madden. Probably my favorite football announcer ever. His excitement about the game was so infectious. I had just watch the documentary about him a couple days before his passing and loved him even more for the man he was.
Betty White. There is nothing more I could say about her that hasn't been said. I don't know anyone in the acting industry who I've admired more. From her love story with Allen Ludden to another love story with all animals, to the way my heart anticipated whatever she was going to say or do to make me happy and laugh out loud. Thank God for Betty White. I want to be more like you than any other person in the world. Thanks.
On a more personal note, as our family has moved all over the world and country, we have adopted people into our lives. Brother Bruce found one of those when he graduated from college and got his first job in Hawaii and worked on the island of Lanai. His boss, Sadao, along with his wife, Susan, took Bruce into their family and he has stayed in touch for decades. I got to meet Susan at her home in Lanai City about 10 years ago and felt the welcome within moments. She passed a couple days ago at the ripe age of 102. My heart hurts for my brother.
With the help of a good friend who stepped up and saved my fanny, I pulled off a minor miracle. I own a little house in Helena that I was getting ready for a new tenant. I was in the middle of getting all the rooms painted when winter decided to appear. Single digit temps, snowy/icy roads, my 2 helpers stranded in Bend, Oregon, and short daylight hours conspired to keep me from finishing the painting job. But we got it done just in time. The new tenants showed up a half hour after we left. Whew.
I'm happy to report I got in 2 fun trips involving my little trailer. Both little adventures allowed me to bring home A LOT of petrified wood. The spring trip took me to new places in southern Utah. Yay! Accompanied by nerdy friends who make any camping trip fun, we ate well, rock-hounded and made the best of our exploits. The fall trip was pretty much solo if I don't include the doggies. But they put up with a lot of driving and indecision without complaint. We covered a lot of ground in eastern Montana and I fell in love with the small towns full of super friendly people. The history aspect was...who gets to meet Lewis and Clark, Pompey, General Terry, Evelyn Cameron, and follow the dinosaur trail? ME!
While my golf game kinda sucks, it didn't stop me from playing on several new courses. On a hell bent for leather run down to Mesquite, Nevada with 2 golf buddies in the spring, we played a course that found a way to make most of our hitting mistakes look a bit brilliant. Back in Montana, when it wasn't so bloody hot outside, we ran up to Choteau and Fairfield to chase the little white ball all over the place. The group golf came to a freezing finish in the fall at Fairmont Hot Springs with 2 more crazy people where we tore it up and laughed a lot to cover the pain of less than perfect play. I ended the season playing solo in Forsyth by hitting 4 trees and losing 2 balls on the first hole. I didn't quit.
Some of the best parts of 2021, and I much appreciate the best of something since it was hard to find that in 2020, was the lack of mosquitoes. Not one bite this year! And driving my zippy little new to me 2009 Prius which gets over 50MPG. Zoom!!! And the only time I felt sick all year was after getting my booster.
The best part of this year happened just the other day. I was driving Zippy into town and it hit me. I couldn't be happier with my life. I even said it out loud. It's not perfect and sometimes not pretty. Hiccups happen. But I am happy! Yay for me!
Okay, 2021 was pretty good after all.