2020 on the bright side...

[balzaccom]

2020 was a lousy year. In our family we had to cancel major trips--including a greatly anticipated family reunion trip to Yellowstone with the kids and the partners, and then there was the backpacking trip that got shortened by the Creek Fire...complete with last minute evacuation. Horrific fires near our home in Napa. No holiday get togethers at all. Add that to the national political chaos and the international pandemic, and 2020 was a disappointment.

But let's look on the bright side. Staying close to home allowed me to tackle a few things I've been wanting to do. And so in 2020 I was able to check these off the list:

Publish my book about Artisan Public Relations.

Make real progress with my watercolors...including a series in the California Delta--see below

Record a series of lectures for Audible on wine

Record a number of the lectures I give to my classes, for use in the future in various locations--looks like they will be needed.

Finish composing a suite for classical guitar that had been on my mind for some time.

Write another mystery novel that takes places in the Sierra.

Whew!

This is in no sense a competition--many others had far more important things to deal with in their daily life than I did--but if you look back, what can you take from 2020 into the future that you feel good about? A friend told me he had studied an hour of music theory a day...and now loves playing his guitar. My daughter became a certified yoga instructor via on-line classes. How about you?

[rlown]

You knew I'd be on this.

2020.. Filed for divorce; It wasn't a bad divorce as she just didn't want to move out of Sonoma County and I wanted to do Gardnerville. Had to, House market was good and it was time to get out of there. Dropped Gardnerville and have a nice trailer on Mom's property complete with Astroturf!

Wife then diagnosed with cancer. Mom's cancer comes back with a vengeance after a 1 year remission. I'm taking care of my mom. Two bags hanging off her. I should have an honorary RN by now.

2021.. Wife will most likely lose her Larynx and was in the ICU for 3 weeks now with a Trach tube. Step-Daughter looking for assisted living for her. Mom got switched from infusion chemo to pill chemo which she can't afford. Yes, I'll step in.

If 2021 allows, I will get out once. I feel kind of tethered and want to spend time at home before really bad stuff happens. Weed grass will soon be showing it's ugly side and I'll be mowing/spraying again come March. Ordered a new sprayer as Mom was using a wagon and hand spraying around the front 5 acres. I mow the back half for the 9 horses, and had new fencing put in.

Kudos to your success, P! Nice painting!

[Jimr]

The only accomplishment for me in 2020 was working with other officers to form protocols to keep our employees in a safe environment through the vid crap. Being in a vital industry, I haven't missed a day of work and that's been a godsend, both financially and psychologically. Going to work every day has kept me sane.

I haven't picked up any of my guitars all year. Last night, I decided to change that, so I kicked it off by ordering 10 packs of classical guitar strings. I may even take the Takamine to work and spend some lunch hours playing like I've done off and on for the last 25 years. (hey P, got a tab of that suite ?).

[giantbrookie]

Whew Russ, that's a bad year. It is with some guilt that I say that 2020 was not such a terrible year for me personally (2018 was horrible in comparison and arguably the worst year of my adult life). Part of this is because COVID kept me at home with the family in the Bay Area more and reduced the amount of time I spent in Fresno (Fresno State). Also part of the equation is the fact that as an outdoor-oriented person, my High Sierra plans were not really negatively impacted. My 2020 High Sierra season was the best in many years when measured in terms of the number of trips and total number of days spent up there (most backpacking trips since 2001 for me). It was also a great season because my wife went backpacking with me and my daughter for the first time since 2015 and her two backpacking trips were the most she's done since 2001. The stay-at-home kept me out of the gym, which required adjustment, but one of the adjustments was trying distance running for the first time in my life (this at age 60 going on 61). This resulted in me getting in the best shape I've been in since my late 20's when I playing full court basketball at least 5 days a week. This is a good thing because part of the downside of my 2020 was having to start taking medication to control high blood pressure. Being in the Bay Area more gave me more opportunities to do hiking locally and my 2020 closed with a flourish with a crazy attempt to reach the bottom of the Arroyo Hondo canyon out of Joseph Grant park, then, after the knee injury from that trip healed, a series of 5 fine hikes on Mt. Diablo Dec. 19, 21, 22, 27, and 28. The Dec. 21 hike was perhaps the best (from hiking but not geology standpoint) in that it included a climb of the North Peak of Mt. Diablo by way of an unofficial trail (I didn't know there would be a trail there) up the NE ridge. Counting various small hikes done on the NE side before and after the big one, that day exceeded 3800' of elevation gain for the day (on the shortest day of the year, no less). From a scholarly standpoint 2020 was a better year than 2019 which I called the "comeback year" after a dismal 2018. 2020 had its share of bad moments, too, but I feel highly fortunate that I am one of those whose job and hobbies were not negatively impacted.

[balzaccom]

"I haven't picked up any of my guitars all year. Last night, I decided to change that, so I kicked it off by ordering 10 packs of classical guitar strings. I may even take the Takamine to work and spend some lunch hours playing like I've done off and on for the last 25 years. (hey P, got a tab of that suite ?)."

Sorry, JimR. I don't write in tablature...and I'm still working on the details. Is there a software program that will translate musical scores into tabs?

[Jimr]

Sorry, JimR. I don't write in tablature...and I'm still working on the details. Is there a software program that will translate musical scores into tabs?

I read music, so I can tab it out. musical score would be better when I've never heard the piece. A lot more information than tablature relays and I can tab out the voicing on the fretboard.

[SSSdave]

Sure, some positives during 2020 too though on the whole rate it as a 3 on a 10 scale.

Negatives:
The dominant for all relatives was my beloved sister Denise passed away in May from pneumonia with a ventilator tube in an ICU.
Pandemic has been a trial of resisting fear, isolation, and boredom.
SMW than any year of my life.

Chronic2020.jpg

Positives:
Have managed to not catch COVID-10 despite being publicly outdoors a fair amount as well as in supermarkets weekly.
A lot more time spent at home reading science especially natural sciences.
During winter before the pandemic, easily my best recreational bump skiing ever. Odd to be at such an elite level as a senior but that is due to vastly better skis designs now and neural plasticity in my neuromusculoskelectal system I've been building all my life.
Have street hiked almost every urban street within a mile or so of my residence so far more familiar with my local very urban region.
Completed huge Excel documents of my post 2013 digital large photography body of work that I'll need when I begin exhibiting with 8k displays.
Discovered some urban photography subjects like rose gardens, I'll work in the future.
Explored new areas of Convict Creek that I have reason to return to.
And managed to do all the above without breaking any health orders.

[Wandering Daisy]

It was a fairly typical backpack season for me. I had plans for both Sierra and the Wind Rivers. I did not do the early and late season Sierra trips, primarily because of difficulties in getting permits, but had a good summer in the Wind Rivers.

The "stay at home" orders prompted me to get a ton of back burner home projects done, especially gardening.

And I take advantage of "suburban" hiking with my dog - about 5 miles a day.

My husband and I are both introverts, so do not miss socializing, because we never did much in the first place. We do miss seeing our kids and grandkids, though.

[mahjzha]

Things that I am grateful for in 2020!
 Husband, children, grandchildren, and friends
 A phone that allows me to stay in touch with loved ones
 Dogs that are always happy to see me and are eternally optimistic
 A that ignores me, but doesn’t scratch the furniture
 A safe, warm, and dry place to live
 Continued employment in a job that provides for me and my family
 Wonderful fresh fruits/vegetables available here in California
 Staying healthy, in spite of several close contacts through work with Covid-positive students that didn’t know they were positive
 Retirement one year closer
 Being able to be physically active, even at my age
 Several backpack (solo) trips this summer in my favorite place – the Sierra!!

Things that I am not so grateful for in 2020!
 Lots

But I can’t change it, and somehow looking at everything that is good in my life helps!
Best to everyone in 2021!!!

[dave54]

Downside:. Planned month long RV trip to Utah cancelled due to the pandemic. Annual winter trip to Arizona cancelled. Disneyland trip with grandkids cancelled. DW pressed into service as teacher when grandkids school was closed. She cracked the whip on them and made sure they completed all their assignments on line.
Plus side:. I set a goal of 100 miles per week on my bike, and made it most weeks. Did a lot more local hiking to local spots I had long planned but never got a round tuit. Fished some off-trail lakes I had been wanting to try. Did manage to get away for a week with the grandkids to Oregon.