2020 was my most prolific year in terms of actually writing things on this blog. Prolific is a relative term. I was actually doing okay until mid-August when I fell off the proverbial wagon. Any evidence of positive progress in that area will be put down to the pandemic - it’s got to have some redeeming qualities. :-)
I’m not waiting on some divine writing inspiration today. I’ve just finished taking Bertie for a snowy walk around the neighbourhood, I have the week off work, and dang it I’m going to sit on this couch for ten minutes, write a quick blog post and enjoy myself - so there.
After the year that has been, if I’ve come to realize one thing, it’s that I’m remarkably lucky. Insanely fortunate. Let me count the ways and be done with it. Here are the things that I’m grateful for. There are in no particular order, and there is no guarantee you will like them:
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My wife and I were apparently built for the pandemic. We are perfectly fine spending hours and hours together, sometimes in utter silence doing our own thing. We have worked together for nearly 10 years and very rarely ever annoy each other. We are also apparently fine with very limited social interaction with others.
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I am a white middle-aged man living in Canada. It simply does not get much easier than that. I sometimes feel guilty about how easy I have it in so many ways. When I hear whining from those of the white and male variety about their social predicament, I get furious.
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We have stayed gainfully and fully employed throughout this year.
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We have stayed healthy this year. Maybe the hint of a cold or sore throat once or twice since March, but that’s it.
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My daughter started University this year in residence (though all classes are online). She has loved the independence and seems to have done fine. Perhaps owing to her being a single child, she has repeatedly told me that she’s been fine since she started at the end of the summer. She’s adaptable. Always has been.
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Bertie is growing older and lazier. He basically wants to be a 150lb lap dog with periodic spurts of wild puppy energy. We’re okay with that. Super okay with that.
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My Dad is staying healthy (he’s battling Parkinsons but has weathered this pandemic thing living on his own pretty darn well). We got him a new phone this year (Pixel 4a) and he’s discovering YouTube and YouTube music. It’s been a good way to help get him off of 24 hour cable news.
I (lightly) intend to pay more attention to my fitness and my hobbies and interests this next year. We’ll see how it goes. If you set the bar low enough you can’t help but succeed.
I’d say that anything would be better that the last year, but that would be a lie. My last year was not awfully terrible. In fact it was pretty darn good. So it’s quite possible that next year will be worse for me than this one. Let’s hope not.