Turn The Page

2024 is over and done and it’s time to turn the calendar over to 2025 if you haven’t already done so. And if you haven’t already done so then I feel you need to go back and reevaluate your new year’s resolutions and add ‘procrastination’ to the list of things you want to improve upon for the upcoming new year. If you don’t have a 2025 calendar already I know someone who can hook you up… 😉 All jokes aside, if you’re anything like me you’re wondering where the last 12 months went. They say as you age, time speeds up. I certainly agree with that. It feels like the sands are no longer gently falling but are making a rapid descent to the bottom of that darn hour glass. When January comes you think you have another year to accomplish all the things you didn’t have time for in the previous year. In my case, it was to commit to publishing more blogs. I managed to post four in 2024. Not bad, but not quite what I was hoping for. I had all these ideas swirling around in my brain of what I wanted to write about but it didn’t come to fruition. I’m not putting pressure on myself, however. If it comes, it comes! I don’t believe in new year resolutions per se but it’s okay to think about what you’d like to accomplish in the new year.

2024 was a year of firsts and milestone events. I got my first bee sting! True story, we were camping in Terra Nova and set up a screen tent to keep the pesky insects and bugs out. I’ve never seen so many flies, bees and other flying creatures inside a screen tent in my entire life. We were better off outside the tent. Anyhoo, I went in one morning to start breakfast and when I opened the zipper and stepped inside, I must’ve disturbed a bee and it flew towards me. Like any sane person would, I started flailing my arms and screaming. The bee wasn’t having any of that and it stung my shoulder, figuring that would shut me up. NO SIR! When I finally escaped the bug-infested enclosure I was a little panicked, fearing I’d have some sort of reaction. After all, it was baby’s first bee sting; who knows what could’ve happened! Eventually things turned out okay and I didn’t have to be transported to the Glovertown Community Health Centre. Thankfully my first time in a kayak later that summer wasn’t as eventful. I made it through from start to finish without tipping over. No life-saving measures were necessary other than trying to extract myself from the kayak itself.

Other noted events in 2024 was that one of us turned 50, one of us turned 60, someone started her first work term and someone “retired” again. We’ll get to that last blind item a little later on. Right now I’m going to share some of the highlights of the past year. Here are a few snaps of how I saw the world in 2024. I’ve already shared a few of these snaps but I thought they were good enough to share again.

Back in April John turned the big ‘six zero’ and he always said he wasn’t working past the age of 60. We had a get together at the house with family and friends to celebrate the milestone birthday and his retirement. His sisters traveled from up along to celebrate with us and a grand time was had! John settled into retirement pretty quickly and easily. After completing the tasks on his post-retirement “to-do” list he set his sights on the east coast trail and on any fine day you could find him hiking along it. He’d come back home and settle into the hammock we got him for Father’s Day. Life was good. Honestly, I think I had a harder time adjusting to the new routine more than he did. It was weird having him around the house everyday. But soon we found a new rhythm and things were normal again. I thoroughly enjoyed having a shopping buddy to drag the groceries from the car to the house and store them neatly away. The coffee and lunch dates were pretty awesome as well.

During his time off he contemplated what he wanted to do next in his life. Here are a few things he mulled over…

As summer faded, John got the calling again, back to work, 6 months tops. “I’ll believe it when I see it”, I thought to myself. He sort of reminds me of the boy who cried wolf, since he ‘retired’ twice before. Having said that I’m extremely proud of the work ethic John has established and maintained over the years. Starting his career in his very early 20’s and carrying on today is something most people could only ever dream of, myself included. Here’s a few snaps of the birthday/retirement party.

Spring quickly turned into summer and there was plenty to see and do right in our own backyard. Not literally of course, but we didn’t have to travel far to experience the beauty and greatness this world has to offer.

2024 brought some pretty spectacular celestial events as well! From the solar eclipse to the Northern lights and the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, many evenings were spent with our heads tilted towards the heavens.

As I said previously, a new year brings plenty of opportunity to have a fresh start. BUT, we also have to remember that even if we don’t stick with our plans or resolutions or whatever doesn’t mean we failed. Life gives us another chance to start over so we need to be kind to ourselves and see that every day can be January 1st! We can make the most of every single grain of sand that falls through the hourglass, it’s totally up to us.

Until Next Time!

Andrea