Last sunrise photography of the year. Taken at Marineland, Palm Coast, FL 12.31.2021 at 6.17AM
I took a short time off from work since January 2nd. Our original plan of going away for a short trip to Charleston fell through since Bob started not feeling well Sunday night. In a short notice, we have cancelled all our reservations. Better safe than sorry as we speak. With nothing to do except stay home and be separated from my isolated husband, I started putting away the decors from Christmas holiday and cleaning up the house in detail- purging and disposing items I no longer use and need but collected and held overtime. After all, it’s the new year- out with the old as they say; it’s a good way to start.
Items I piled up while decluttering the garage. Ready for Goodwill donations.
While trying to accomplish the chores I started, I couldn’t help but replay the past year in my mind. 2021 certainly came… and poof! It’s gone. Though it went by so quickly, I have so much to be grateful for the past year. It was a year of another survival, self-discovery, reconnections, re-learning, heartbreak, and letting go. Covid is almost now on its third year, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, so I just have to endure and protect myself and my love ones from it in any possible way I can. Exhausting; but that is all I can do for now. Last year, Bob and I started hiking mountains again. It is something we used to love and do when we live across Mt. Wachusett in Princeton, Massachusetts but somehow got lost from moving to Cape Cod and with the busy schedules we both have. We made few hiking trips to Colorado, North Carolina and the Adirondacks in 2021. And when all the good things are going right as they should, I was devastated the last quarter of 2021 as I lost another close friend from cancer. More like a family, he was one of my few long-standing ones; we’ve been friends half my age so that was really heart breaking in my part. His passing brought good thing though- our common friend whom I am estranged with for a few years now, is back on speaking terms again. For that, I am thankful. Through out the past year I met new people from work, from playing volleyball and from social media- some I keep because their friendship is genuine and sincere; some I have to let go for our values do not align. You win some, you lose some I guess. All in all, in deed it was a year of roller coaster ride of experiences and emotions, but all experiences- pleasant and unpleasant- for me are learning curves. Always.
As we enter 2022, my goal is to focus on the greatest opportunities life will bring. Health is one and always been the top priorities for both Bob and I. Then relationships- for him and I, our families; and all the friends and people we care for. As for myself, to be a better version of who I was from last year. All the rest will follow.
Happy New Year 2022!
Bird’s eye view of Summer Haven Beach in St. Augustine, FL. First fly for 2022 with my drone. Still in the learning curve on this one.
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” -Edith Lovejoice Pierce