The First Year

 

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Holly Tree Manor blog. I began the blog as an alternative, or perhaps a compliment, to my writing blog Between the Keys. Sometimes personal topics don't mix well with bookish ones. 

This past year has been the most unusual year of my lifetime. The Covid-19 pandemic caught everyone off-guard. It served as a wake-up call to many, and for us, it was clear the time had come to implement a few things we'd talked, and yes joked, about. It was time to get intentional. 

We began to take up gardening again, this time with a workable plan to thwart the deer. My retirement plans were put on hold. This was not the year to give up my very good employer-paid health insurance. It helped that I was able to work from home in March, April, May, and part of June. November and December found me once again working at least part-time from home. This was certainly my silver lining for making it through the year. 

The downside of my year was a lack of focus in my writing. Or maybe it was the desire to check back into my life. This was the year I wanted to be intentional about spending more time with family. Enter Covid-19 and that was shot to hell. But I couldn't seem to shift gears from what I wanted to what I had, which was time to write. Will I ever get the focus to write back? I don't know. It's on shaky ground at the moment. 

I also lost two dear friends late in the year. Two members of my bowling team passed. Due to the pandemic, I'd opted out of the first half of the season and didn't get to spend time with them. I'll likely regret that for awhile. 

So where does the blog go from here? Do I continue? Yes, I do. It's long been proven that journaling is good for some people. This blog is my journal as much as Between the Keys. This one happens to be a lot more personal. 

As of this date, I've not opened the blog to the public. I'm sure I will do that at some future date. I've started to read blogs only to discover the blogger quit after a handful of entries. My thought is to have a substantial amount of content before going public so readers don't suffer that disappointment. 

Christmas is just days away and there are things to do, namely, get the turkey out of the freezer and discuss with Himself exactly what he wants on the menu for Christmas dinner. We'll spend the day alone together and not mind it one whit. We know the world is out there, doing as it wishes. But for us, being home at the manor is more than enough. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor