A Farewell

Sunday, December 20, 2020 (11 days remaining in 2020)

Approaching this year’s darkest, shortest day–Oh, yes, there’s one that’s real!–as a couple of planets approach one another, we’re eleven days prior to the New Year. I am reflecting on 2020 and its lessons for me.

I learned that one can semi-isolate and find ways to be okay. For me, this year’s early months of self-isolation meant purchasing and more purchasing. First of all, books for reading; and too, purchasing art products and learning to use them; purchasing materials and practicing knitting skills. There was endless purchasing and practicing, or purchasing and ignoring. In 2020, online shopping became a biggie.

I learned during self-isolation the bonus of having some property and private space. One could go outdoors unmasked and be alone. I purchased battery-operated power saws and practiced using them. The gift of private space let me spend weeks outdoors trimming long-neglected trees. That might not sound like, nor was it fun, but I was outside and physically active in a safe space.

Pets can be saviors, and especially horses. They need constant attention and care but give much in return. Horseback riding in a local forest transported me from home, allowed my dogs to run for miles, and gifted me with lovely, memorable spring and summer views.

It’s no small accomplishment that a focus on getting through 2020 helped me recover from having lost my very influential big sister toward the end of 2019.

At summer’s ending, my old job revved up again, called me back to work, I felt ready to be among others. My workplace, the local Costco, paid great attention to cleanliness and mask-wearing, and I resumed work as a sample-server which felt good enough. But in the unusual circumstances of these times, I was offered a promotion to Shift Supervisor.

I accepted while feeling terrified. That new position called for learning a large organization’s highly-time-driven and complex computer-reporting system. As a long-time retiree, I’d not thought about anything similar for years. It was scary, having to tackle a left-brain challenge, but I had to discover if my brain still could handle it. In short time, it did.

Now, in these final days of 2020, I’m revived, with confidence in being able to process a variety of complex information. It’s been a year of testing–with reading, creating art, tackling knitting, sawing limbs, and demonstrating foods–to returning among others and enjoying them. And the surprise of being able to navigate a giant organization’s complexities.

Twenty-twenty: “T’was the worst of times and the best of times.”

Dear Readers: All, despite 2020’s political traumas which altered known-world orders. Diana