Looking Back at 2024

 Happy New Year!!

Chargin Falls, Ohio December 2024

It is so hard to believe that it is 2025, even still it is hard to believe how busy that I have been so far this winter.  Doing what?  I don't even know.  There were no big life changes.  No young children in the house to "make" Christmas magical, but still I felt as if I had little down time since returning from my trip the end of October.  On Christmas Eve, I was so tired that we forwent our traditional evening at friends.  Instead Bruce and I enjoyed some time in the hot tub under the stars and upon returning to the living room promptly fell into a bottle of red mulled wine while settling into a movie.  I have gotten grief over the high rating I gave the movie, but in reflection I believe the rating came from the ambience of the much need relaxing evening.  Speaking of reflection, the new year has come and I have yet to take some quiet time to meditate and reflect on 2024.  I find that this reflection comes later and later each year. But as this morning, January 5th, I have a quiet morning, I thought I would write down a few thoughts of reflection that have been pinging through my mind.

This past year has been full of new adventures, travel and reemergence of energy.  OK after talking to my neurologist it is not new energy, but that I have discovered how to manage the energy that I have.  There are times that I still teeter with the prospect that I should be able to hold down a full time job, but that light has greatly dimmed and only sparkles from time to time.  Realistically, the reason I can manage my energy is because I do not work full time.  Trust me, my brain reminds me when I need to slow down when everyday thought processes like following a recipe, reading an article or doing simple math escapes me.  I am much better at seeing the signs of my mental decline coming.  Most days, I see it coming and can handle my expectations, yet there are some days when the frustration is palatable.  

My travels in 2024 still amaze me.  I saw so many things it is hard to realize I was there and it wasn't a movie I watched.  I visited a Wolf Sanctuary in Sedona and was able to sit among wolves allowing them to choose me if they wanted to interact. I had tapas in Spain.  I drank wine in Florence.  I flew above Greece in a paraglider.  I walked among the ancient ruins of Old Zadar, Naples and Rome.  I saw places and things I had only seen in books like Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain and the "Statue of David" and the sculpture "Rape of the Siberian Woman" in Florence.  I finally managed to place many of the photos I took into a photo book for Bruce for Christmas hoping to have a recall object for my memory.  On top of that trip, we spent a lot of time traveling in our travel trailer and relaxing in nature.  We laughingly call it "Our Dam Summer" as most of the campgrounds we visited had a lake and a dam.  Though we are more glampers than campers these days with our own bathroom, air conditioning and 2 TVs (that we hardly use). I still find such renewal of my spirit in nature.  Wow! Looking back I also went to 6 National Parks.  My daughter and I traveled to Oak Creek, Arizona and visited the Grand Canyon and many National Monuments including Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which is one of my favorite places. Cuyahoga National Park is where we were bombarded by down pours 2 miles into our hike and had to walk through cascading waterfalls down the trail.  The Great Smokey Mountains where we saw several bear as we drove an overcrowded one lane road in Cades Cove.  It was not the peaceful outdoor nature experience I was hoping for, but the hike along the river the next day was perfection.  I finally made it to the Rocky Mountains that has been on my bucket list for a long time.  I was also able to cross off learning how to fly fish from my bucket list too! The fifth National Park was a quick stop at the Petrified Forest and Painted Dessert so maybe that should be National Park 5 & 6.  I have been there before and it was truly a quick stop at an overlook inside the park as we drove to Flagstaff on our Route 66 trip in the fall.  We built so many memories on that road trip with our friends, Bonnie and Pete.  I learned history of the west that I was unaware of at Boot Hill Museum and we saw some stuff.  My most memorable and emotional stop was the Oklahoma City Memorial.  Who would have guessed that I would buy cowboy boots and spray paint a Cadillac at Cadillac Ranch?  Oh and the overnight at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico was a throw back to the 1940s and 50s. After seventy days of traveling in 2024, it is no wonder I was busy when I was home.  I had to catch up on household chores and pack for the next adventure.

I felt better in my own skin in 2024. I know me better, my likes and dislikes and my limitations.  I pushed myself more in 2024 to get out of the house and try new things and offered myself forgiveness and acceptance when something proved too challenging or it didn't have the outcome I had hoped for.  2024 was a good year with a few challenges sprinkled in, but challenges offer growth right?