The last day of the year. It feels a bit more meaningful as 2020 comes to a close, doesn’t it? Somehow a bit weightier? A lot of life happened these past twelve months, and I for one am happy to look back over it and relive the good and the challenging.
January
I started last year with a similar post, rounding up memories and thoughts of what came before. Must be a trend for me.
I also wrote what may be the most ironic thing I’ve ever penned— this post titled “On Babies.” My favorite line? “Yes, there are a lot of babies in the lives of us older women. ” Turns out, there are.
February
The second month of the year saw us facing the fallout from The Great Chicken Massacre, and otherwise pondering farm things. The quieter, colder months are often like that.
March
One of my first posts in March centered on a tornado scare we experienced before dawn, and the beginning rumblings of something called Covid. Hindsight, oh… hindsight. While things were definitely sticky here (my husband had to beat a fast track back to the States from what was to be a month-long training stint in Ethiopia, and my college kids were suddenly home for the duration), I tried to focus on the things God had already taught me about crisis. It was actually a pretty good month here.
April
Easter came, and we were all still here at home, trying our best to figure out what exactly, was happening. (Actually, have we ever figured this out?) Our family tried to make the days meaningful, memorable, and joyful. I think we did o.k., considering.
May
One of our infamous months of birthdays arrived, and we put in our garden. Our school year over, Jack graduated. We started to feel a bit weary. Mary Hannah moved to take up her post at a State Park.
June
I can admit now that I threw myself into school planning so early in the summer partially out of a need to feel some continuation of normalcy. At any rate, it was a month I spent largely in front of a computer screen, surrounded by books, while everyone else dug into various projects on the property. We also swam. A lot.
July
Jack left, and I cried. I posted yet another ironic piece about how lovely it was to enter into the stage of no more babies. And we started back to school because that’s what we do.
August
My college kids went back to school far more normally than most, Jack graduated BMT without us there to cheer him on, CC started back without a hitch, and all that irony caught up to me as we announced that Decimus was on his or her way.
September
I started knitting like a fiend and we hit the road for quite a few little day trip outings in the gorgeous weather. Also, the arrival of three more birthdays! It was a good month.
October
More traveling! The kids’ memories of this year are all, oddly enough, of all that we saw and did, rather than staying home! Jack returned from BMT and Tech School, and we enjoyed being outside, being together, and getting excited about Decimus.
November
I knit some more, we embraced a whole new level of hygge, and I saw all my Stateside kids gathered together for the holidays.
December
Hiking, baking, two snowfalls, and as much normalcy as 2020 could offer. A beautiful way to end an uncommon year!
