My
yuletide letter for 2018...
...showing
a few (often mundane but memorable) events in my life:
Started the year right by seeing Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Spent the rest of January working on
taxes.
In February the tenth book in my "Behind the
Ranges" series, Commoner By Choice,
was released. Yay! Have you read it yet?
Planted snow peas and Walla Walla onion sets in March. Yum.
The builders came and replaced my front porch flooring in
May, and when they were gone, I repainted all the posts and railings.
A flying trip to Boise in June, to attend a memorial for my
first serious boyfriend. Does anyone ever forget that first love?
The Hillsboro Fourth of July Parade is one of those
old-fashioned, small-town treats that I really enjoy. Only one of my
grandchildren (Amber) marched with the Century High band this year.
After an early August lunch in Dayton, OR, my friend Dick
and I discovered a patch of perfectly ripe Himalayan blackberries and made pigs
of ourselves. Yum, again.
September was the annual Clan Gathering, this year in
Brookings, OR. Lovely setting, perfect weather, but fraught with disasters: one
collision, one punctured oil pan, one lost drive shaft, four broken ribs, and a
death in a family. Those of us who survived unscathed spent the rest of the
month waiting for our disasters to strike.
Another funeral in October, for Tony Schneider,
brother-by-choice, best of friends. Sorely missed.
Spent month of being a chauffeur/cook/companion for a friend
who'd suffered a stroke, and who didn't have WiFi. What a surprise to realize
that the Internet isn't the only source of the daily news.
One invariably looks back at the year's events as it draws
to a close. The world is in a mess, our political system is a disaster, and our
planet is facing a point of no return. Is it too late to change?
I hope not. I want to believe in happy endings.
Jude
