New Year's Eve

 

New Year's Eve 2022

New Year's Eve. Again. 

The Lord and Lady of the Manor hope to be able to stay awake to see the Times Square ball drop. Do we want to watch it on network TV? Noooooooooooo. We do not. We detest all the chatter and the fake "joy." The hope is we can find a live stream without commentary. We do know how to talk with each other and be entertained for an evening. We may even make a list of the really big things we'd like to do in 2023. 

Some of those big things require outside contractors. We need a new well, a fact we've known for a while. Pandemic, anyone? Yeah, that put the brakes on a lot of things, but we're getting back to them. But a new well is at the top of my list. 

We hope to do more day trips in 2023. It was part of the plan when I retired, but we were enjoying being home together and doing not a whole lot that we didn't go on many. We'd like to get our little pool set up again this year. It's only shoulder deep when we sit, but that's what we wanted. We don't want to swim. We want to float and relax. Putting the pool up won't cancel out the day trips. It'll be great to arrive home, jump in, and chill out after a day behind the wheel. 

A list will also help us get a jump on some of the things we'd like to do. Not everything requires sunshine and temps in the 70s. Spring will come and it will get to the point where we look at the weather outside and determine if anything is possible, then go from there. 

Taking stock, doing a bit of planning, and some wishful thinking is a fine way to spend a quiet evening at home. A steak dinner, a glass or two of wine, and conversation. For us, it's the perfect way to usher in a new year. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, New Year's Eve, future planning, wine, conversation, rural lifestyle, country living, a writer's life 

New Year's Eve 2020

 What can one say about 2020 that has not been said? 

The year of the pandemic. The year of citizens accepting "house arrest."

The year parents died alone. The year women gave birth alone. 

The year we led lives quietly desperate for family. 

The year political corruption took advantage of the American citizen and set the stage for what are surely horrible things to come. 

The year we lost so much. 

Here at Holly Tree Manor life went on unchanged in many regards. Externally, all our adjustments came when we had to deal with the outside world. Internally, inside our property boundaries, life was much the same as always. I was home more, of course, but nothing else was different. 

We had grass to mow, trees to prune, brush to burn, mulch to spread, stone to level, painting to be done, equipment to service, and wildlife to enjoy. We were more blessed than most. We did not suffer.

Looking into 2021 the view is murky. Will the vaccine for Covid-19 be safe? Will it work? What will this mean for me personally? If the vaccine works, should I retire? 

Is it possible to resurrect my writing career? Do I even want to do that? I need TIME to do that, time that has to come from somewhere. I made the decision to check back into my life and that meant the writing suffered. To go back to writing means my personal life will be short-changed. Do I want to go back to being that lonely, because writing is surely a lonely profession. 

Maybe in the new year, I'll find some answers, although I doubt it. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor