This is a type of blog post I’ve never attempted before, as a review of my year can be had by simply checking out the many musings I’ve published here over the course of the last twelve months. What is drawing this out of me is both a reaction and a hunch. The reaction is due to the near incessant drone of pundits and headlines I catch here and there about how abominable the last year has been. My hunch is that Caroline and I have had an incredible year, but instead of making a value judgment by shooting from the hip, I’ll skim through the nearly quarter-million words published in 2021 and see what things looked like for the two of us.
Introspection and continuing self-isolation were in order for the month of January 2021. It’s difficult to mention the pandemic without referencing the majority of the prior year, in which Caroline and I were thriving in the quiet of Phoenix, enjoying the empty skies, the endless walks in circles around our neighborhood, homemade meals every day, and more time together than we’d ever been afforded before. Another year of being married was had, and an election upset gave some breathing room aside from witnessing the attempted overthrow of our democracy.
February came and went much as January did, except at the end of the month, we visited a museum for the first time in over a year and were able to join a drumming program at the Musical Instrument Museum. Earlier in February, after entertaining the idea of working remotely from somewhere near the Oregon Coast, we realized that America has become too expensive to afford any real comfort, so my attention turned to working from Europe. Sadly, Caroline’s company can’t support that situation, but that didn’t stop me from working intently on a year-long itinerary that would see us spending nearly a month each in Vienna, Innsbruck, Trento, Florence, Turin, Annecy, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rennes, Rouen, Ghent, and Groningen. Nothing ever happens if we fail to dream.
March was monumental, not because I stopped writing about perspectives and memories (I didn’t), but because Caroline and I both got our first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine. That wasn’t all, as March turned busy when Caroline not only returned to her office for in-person work, but I jumped into the car to head east, north, and south here in Arizona over a few days. Truth was, I needed to get away from home because, after a year in our apartment with Caroline nearby, I knew the place would feel empty without her presence.
April comes on with my 58th birthday, a junior ranger badge from Saguaro National Park for Caroline, our second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and plans for a road trip. After reading the news that the Monterey Bay Aquarium was planning on reopening for the first time since March of last year, we were going to head over to California if only I was able to snag a couple of tickets that were sure to sell out fast. Well, the website was hiccupping, and so, although the website said not to call the aquarium directly, with the site being hammered, they started taking phone orders. Not only did I get us in on an early morning reservation for one of the days we’d be in the area, but I was able to grab two tickets for the next day, too. On the last day of April, we left Phoenix for California.
Starting off May with a drive up Highway 1 on a beautiful sunny spring day couldn’t be more ideal. No matter what else would happen in May, it’s already perfect. Not long after returning from our ten days along the Pacific Ocean, we received a request from Germany asking if I could fly over to help deal with my mother-in-law’s effects and apartment. Before the month was out, I was on my way to Europe.
Nearly every day of June was spent in a mostly locked-down Germany. I’d never been to Europe without tourists found in every nook and cranny before and will likely never have the opportunity to see this again in my lifetime. Caroline and I didn’t miss a day talking with each other as she practiced her rusty skills of driving while also enjoying a ton of time to focus on herself and things she wanted to do, short of dancing around the apartment with her chonies on her head, though she might have done that too.
Home in time for the 4th of July with more than a few days to recover from the jetlag that comes with such long flights around our earth. Somewhere in that recovery, my daughter Jessica called, letting me know that not only was she fully vaccinated but that she had some free time coming up. With a minimal amount of planning, I was able to forge an itinerary that would have us heading north before July was over.
August started in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming with my daughter and ended with Caroline and me on a flight to Germany. Between those milestones, Jessica and I would hike in the Beartooth Mountains, drive to the Canadian border, and head south through the very middle of America for more than 1,000 miles on Highway 83.
September was all about family in and around Frankfurt, Germany. With everyone over there in their mid-80s, we needed this time to visit with them more than has been typical. With that our goal, there were no side trips to Paris, Italy, or Sweden although we did fit in a few days up in Binz on Rügen, Germany’s largest island off the Baltic Sea coast.
October was spent recovering from five months of extensive travels. I barely knocked out 2,500 words about things, but we did pick up our friend William “Willy” Mathers from Scotland at our local airport to drive him up to Flagstaff, where he’d be departing for a three-week trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon the next day.
Serb Fest, friends, restocking our pantry, the end of an era as we put to rest the Plum In The Golden Vase after taking nearly ten years to read its five volumes, more reading, and meeting author Pacifique Irankunda over coffee on a chance meeting; that was November. Before the month was out, I even got in a brief trip over Globe and Winkleman before heading into southern Utah for a quick hike in Bryce National Park with an old friend.
Now, here we are in December, Caroline’s birthday has passed, our visit with my daughter over in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro, New Mexico, was had over Christmas, and we have nothing at all planned for New Year’s as just a week after we welcome in 2022, we’ll be heading to Los Angeles to visit some museums, gardens, and a couple of Persian restaurants.
So, how was 2021? I have nothing to complain about, as this was certainly by no means a year of misery. On the contrary, anyone could read above that we are incredibly fortunate to find the greatest experiences in life, even when that is nothing more than making a meal at home, reading a book together, or donning a new pair of socks my wife hand-knitted for me. Yay for 2021 and all that it brought.