Who's on first?
So… why am I writing???
2020 has not been a stellar year.
You've got that right. I've certainly had better years.
Covid was just starting to make itself known
and everyone was beginning to brace for the
two weeks that we might have to wait until it was all gone.
(Hah! I am going to go out on a limb here,
and say that “they” might have been just a teensy
bit off in their forecast.
No kidding, eh!?
This reminded me, though, of how it all began, and made me think back... I remember at that time in March when everyone else was saying a 2-week lockdown...we had students coming back from March Break and their breaks were extended by something like a week before they were expected to return to school. I remember Nathan looking at his event calendar and wondering how many show weekends he might miss before he got back to spray painting again, how long schools would be closed, would I be able to finish my internship, etc. And I remember him being the positive thinker he is, and feeling like we wouldn't actually have a full lockdown, and even if we did it would be short. Especially since we live in a pretty small province. I, on the other hand, am always a negative Nancy, and plan for the worst. But when everyone around me thought this was no big deal, I distinctly remember telling Nathan, "No, I think this is gonna be big. We're gonna be locked down completely. Things are gonna be different for a long time. This thing is gonna be around for...like...I'm thinking, like, MONTHS...YEARS..." and I seemed ridiculous at the time. Now here we are, and for once the negative Nancy was actually right. But I wish I hadn't been!
Santa… face down in the muck.
If that doesn’t describe 2020 in a single visual,
I don’t know what does!
(Yes. That's my photo.
It's not far from my folks' place.)
hehehe
(Yes. That's where they hang out
while I'm trying to cook and not
step on them.)
Oh my actual goodness they are BEAUTIFUL. Much floof. I am in love.
Well, I did go camping with my youngest DD, Kay.
Fun!
This looks nice!
Doesn't that beach look inviting?
More on
that later.
Uh oh...it looks lovely, but this doesn't sound good...
A tunnel was blasted underneath the line
to restore drainage.
It makes for an interesting canoe/kayak.
How neat!
The water temperature, still early
in the year, was probably around 45F/7C.
Also... when we waded out...
we each found we'd picked up
an unwanted passenger.
One leach each.
Oh no!
Leeches are yuck. I grew up spending a lot of time at my grandmother's cottage on the lake, and we usually didn't have too much trouble with leeches, but there were just a few spots around the rocks and things we knew to stay away from. I've only ever had a couple of them over the years, but they're super yucky.
And another small project was
replacing the gate.
I think it turned out well enough.
This looks nice! Great work.
Um… I’m in the middle of the woods…
By myself…
With zero protection from bears…
I've heard that calling out "Heeeeyyyyy big boooyyy" in a low monotone is a good defence...
Ooohhh this looks like a s'more supreme! I've never tried a peanut butter cup upgrade, but I've made Caramilk s'mores a good few times.
(Among the other exotic foods
that they have had: alligator, rabbit,
bison, sturgeon and kangaroo.)
Not quite what you'd expect from
a small town food truck!
Wow! That's quite the food truck!
she mentioned that she was a bit
nervous about bears and she
was prepared to climb a tree
if necessary.
I asked her if she'd ever seen
how fast a bear could climb?
Yeah, so true! This is one of the bits of advice we always gave around home (in black bear country.) Never attempt to climb a tree to escape a bear. They can climb, too, and much faster than you. I've been fortunate not to have any close encounters in the woods on my own, but Nathan's had a few. But the black bears we typically see around here don't tend to give people any trouble unless there are cubs involved.
So I did what any good father
(who had been disturbed from his rest)
would do...
I told her a story about a giant
Grizzly bear. I'm sure it helped.
Dad of the Year!
Ladies and gents (and Mark)
I give you... the Nutimik Lake Falls!
Um...which part of that is supposed to be falling, exactly?
Cutie! We had a very similar-looking little guy last summer trapped in my mom's garage! (We were living at my mom's house and looking after it for her last summer.) Maybe he hopped all the way east from your neck of the woods to mine!
I did buy a fire bowl for at home
and we did use it a few times
We bought the same one for my mom's house last year! A decent little fire bowl, and nice for the occasional backyard s'more. Looks like you've got a nice little spot there.
It wasn't all fun and games this year.
We managed to avoid
any covid exposures.
(We did have a couple of close
calls, but no one caught it... yet.
As I write this, we're waiting on
Elle's test to come back.
ETA: Just found out it was negative. Phew!)
So glad to hear everyone was able to stay healthy!
I posted my woes on the DISdads
forum and someone there mentioned
that I should try
Amazon.
Amazingly enough, I found the part.
I also found the tool I needed to clean
out the old joints.
I'm hoping to be able to fix it myself.
How lucky! I hope you were able to get it fixed. Maybe if I read on, you'll say. I'm still an update or two behind, I think.
Also this year, I decided to
take up jogging.
I used the C25K app.
(Couch to 5K)
I started out by running for
60 seconds.
60 seconds is a looong time.
After that you walk for 90 seconds...
And then they make you run again!
You alternate for 20 minutes.
I thought I was going to die.
Good for you!
60 seconds is, indeed, a loooong time. Especially when you first start. Or when you've stopped running for a looooong time and then try to start again...I'm speaking from recent experience!
C25K is what I also used when I first started jogging/running back before Nathan and I got married, and our incentive at the end of the program was also to run a runDisney race! We did the Marathon Weekend 5K in January 2018, and it was great. I definitely struggled at the beginning of it. I had NEVER been a runner before. I'd never run more than 5-6 minutes straight in my whole life. But I got to the point where I could consistently jog the whole 5k straight through. I was, and continue to be very slow, but that didn't bother me since I was lapping everyone on the couch!
Over the last couple of years, I've really let the running slide. Just a week or so ago, I decided it might be time to pick it up again. And the 60 seconds...it's long again!
That's wonderful that you and DD stuck with it and did you 5K! Nathan's gone up to 10K before, but I've never done much past 5. That's okay with me for now. I hope the injury didn't bother you for too long.
So neat!
Christmas was quiet as well.
With the city under lock down,
we didn't have my folks over
or go to their place for the first
time in years.
I know I'm not alone in that this year.
Yes, our Christmas was very quiet. We were back to living in Nova Scotia by that point, but typically we'd all go home to my mom's house in New Brunswick to visit with her sisters' families and my grandmother. This year we stayed in Nova Scotia. Nathan and I were lucky enough to at least be able to go see my mom and her household in Halifax, but we missed seeing the rest of the family. Up until just a couple of months ago, we hadn't seen my in-laws in ages!
And by the way…
Did you see it?
Oh darn! I'm so out of practice that I missed it!