Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021!

The end of 2020 is in sight. Just a few more hours and the calendar will read January 2021. I keep hearing everyone talking about how they cannot wait for 2020 to be over. That it’s been a terrible year, good riddance to it, and so on. I get it. I’m looking forward to 2021 myself! It has been a terribly hard year for a lot of people and I know, that for some, it’s been a year that has drastically changed lives forever.  Jobs were lost, loved ones passed away, our lives were turned upside down…Covid and the restrictions it brought, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods…. It’s easy to recount the bad things that happened to us all. It’s always easier to dwell on the negative than the positive for some reason. 

It’s very hard to find good in the middle of despair or joy in the midst of grief and so many of you have had to try to do that this year. I’m not discounting or diminishing anything that anyone has dealt with this year.  I’ve cried tears with you and my heart hurts for you when I think about what some of you have been been through. But, when I look back over the our year and then some of the things I’ve seen friends and family post and share, there’s been some good things happen in 2020, too. Babies were born, people met and fell in love, some got married, birthdays were celebrated, kids graduated, people beat cancer, and communities came together and helped each other.  Granted, some of those things were celebrated a little differently but they happened. And they were all good.  We all grew in ways we never dreamed we could; we did things we never thought we’d have to much less be able to do…remote learning? Work from home? That would never happen! But, we did those things and more.  Anyone reading this is still here and that’s a good thing. We found ways to teach and learn and communicate and love on each other that we would never have known if it weren’t for the constraints of 2020. So, this year wasn’t ALL bad!

I know a lot of us don’t want to carry anything from this year into next year but some things are worth carrying over.  One of the things I hear when I hear people talking about moving on from 2020 and into 2021? HOPE. I hear hope. Hope for a better year, a better life, a better future. Another thing I hear is THANKFULNESS. Thankfulness for making it through this year. Thankfulness that we can go into a new year with a better appreciation for the things and people in our lives. A thankfulness that we are able to move forward and not be stuck in 2020 forever.  

When that calendar changes from 2020 to 2021 at midnight tonight, things aren’t going to magically go back to the way they were ten months ago.  Oh, how I wish it could, but that’s not how it works; we all know that. Time marches on just as it has always has. When you think about it, this New Year’s won’t really be that much different than others in the past. We’ll be entering a new year with hope for a better year, anticipation of good things to happen, thankfulness for the opportunities, and determination and motivation to not let it be like last year. That may be the biggest difference…determination to not let next year be like this year.  That, and we’ll be a LOT happier to welcome next year than we have been in years past.  

Let’s take that hope, thankfulness, and determination into 2021 and make it a great year. Throw in some love and kindness while we’re at it. Happy New Year to all of my friends and family.  You are one of life’s greatest blessings and I’m looking forward to sharing this next year with you all! 

Meaher State Park

Last weekend, I tagged along with my husband when he went to Meaher State Park to participate in Winter Field Day (a big Ham Radio event). The park is in Spanish Fort, AL across the bay from Mobile.  It’s a rather small park situated in the northern part of  Mobile Bay and is a part of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. It is a somewhat swampy marsh (in areas) that connects to Mobile Bay. The park has a nice campground with several pavilions for day use. There is a boat launch which is used regularly if what I saw in the two days I was there is any indication! There is also a fishing pier which was in the process of being replaced while we were there. It looks like the park facilities (the small cabins, anyway) have undergone a fairly recent renovation.  We stayed in one of the cabins and I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice and clean they were. Perfect for two people, they are slightly over 300 square feet with a bathroom, sitting area, and bedroom. There is a sink, microwave, and refrigerator.  It had a beautiful view from the porch, especially at sunrise.

Although we didn’t see any alligators because it was cold and they were hibernating (for lack of a better word), they are definitely prevalent in the waters here. There are signs everywhere warning people against swimming, feeding, or harassing them. There were birds everywhere and I enjoyed trying to get photos but mostly I loved hearing them sing. This cardinal sat right outside our cabin and sang for at least 30 minutes one afternoon. This egret hung out in the area in front of our cabin the whole time we were there. There were a lot of ducks flying in and out all day as well. I am much more of a night owl than an early bird, but, as the sun was coming up and throwing this amazing orange glow over everything, I decided to get up and have a look out of the window. I spotted something moving and although I didn’t have my glasses on, I knew it was big.  How surprised I was when I realized it was a deer! That was one animal I wasn’t expecting to see at all.  He was a good sized spike and he stood there and looked at me for several minutes before bounding off toward the trees. The sunset later that day was just as magnificent as the sunrise.  It made me so glad I decided to tag along!