It has been quite a few winters since I’ve attempted to put together any sort of year-end review, but I’ve got some time this morning, the house is empty (Scott’s gone home to MN for the next week or so), and I can only play so many Arban exercises on my tenor horn before growing weary of my mediocrity.
2012 has been a year of newness, both pleasant and un. I began a new walking regimen in January, met a new lady in March, started a new job in May. I visited new places in June and July, tried new camera equipment during October, got a new computer in November, and saw a new symphony in December. Throughout the year, I worked a variety of new schedules, found new places to play, tamed some new cats, and dreamed about a new car. So let’s take a look back and see what I can recall.
For about the first three quarters of the year, I took walks nearly every morning ranging from 2 – 12 miles. I began doing this mainly because I wanted to play with a new exercise application on my phone that drew my walking paths all over a map. So caught up in the maps and the statistics was I that I almost didn’t realize that I was walking further and faster over time – and losing weight and lowering my blood pressure. The walks became more sporadic beginning in about August when my work schedules started getting flaky during the week and football season began to monopolize the weekends; but I’m still getting out there when I have the time, the light, and the lack of rain required. Today, by the way, does not fit into those three categories – it has been raining for two days now.
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| Long strings of windmills along I-65 in central Indiana became a regular sight during 2012 as I drove to and from Waukegan, IL |
In April, I attended the 30th annual North American Brass Band Championships (in Cincinnati), and almost literally stumbled into the woman of my dreams after coming down a flight of stairs where I’d been photographing the events. Amy and I are still getting to know each other nearly 10 months later with no immediate plans to cease doing so, and she’s played a huge part in many of the other events of the last year.
On the first of May, I started a new job – leaving the one that I’d held for the previous 4 years in the face of looming outsourcing (though the company still refuses to call it that). To say that I’m less than thrilled with the new gig would be the understatement of my life; but if you’ve read any of this blog since May, you’re probably quite aware of my feelings for the current gig. I say in all modesty that it is a tribute to me that I have neither quit nor flown completely off the handle at my management – though I’ve come frighteningly close to doing both on several occasions.
Over the summer, I did quite a bit of travelling. There was a trip Vermont to visit with Cy and “T” and participate, with the Georgia Brass Band, in Middlebury’s annual summer benefit concert for the Sheldon Museum. I also attended a brass festival in Gettysburg – mainly to catch the performance of an all-female brass band in which Amy was playing. I returned to the hallowed shores of Ahmic Lake in Magnetawan, Ontario, this year after having to miss that luxury in 2011. After about a week of tennis, swimming, card games and food with family and friends, I headed west through Ontario, brushed around the top of Lake Michigan and ended up in Waukegan, Il, to spend another week with Amy in her hometown. I camped on the lake’s western shore, took in a renaissance fair on the Illinois/Wisconsin border, sampled the food at a couple of local diners, and took pictures of all of the above. It was the longest of three trips that I took to Waukegan during the summer, and Amy visited Atlanta a couple of times as well.
Football season was both a disappointment and a joy. As my team struggled to a wretched 2-9 record, I vastly improved my photography with the aid of some rented lenses and a top-notch camera body, and I closed out the season as a “real” professional photog by shooting two games for the Greenville News. I still haven’t been paid for those games, incidentally. Maybe I’ll spend some time today making up invoices. The trips during the season were enjoyable as always, though somewhat tiring. In addition to the regular drives to Greenville, I had a couple of long days on the road (to Burlington and Boone, NC). With the exception of one early game, however, the weather was fantastic on each Saturday and the drives were pleasant. That one exception, though….wow. Tornados, downpours, game delayed by nearly an hour….and we lost in triple overtime, which portended the season to come.
Near the end of the season, I found a watering hole quite near my house that boasts both dart boards and (holy of holies) a pinball machine. Scott (my renter) and I have amused ourselves over the last few months by regularly playing in weekly “blind draw” darts tournaments – quite often placing in the money – and by seeing just how hard we can shake that pinball machine without tilting it.
Quite a lot, as it turns out.
The feral cats have come and gone over the last year at their whims. At one time, I think there were as many as 5 scrambling up the steps of my deck each morning to dive into the food that I put out for them; but their number has dropped to just two in recent weeks. Both of those little guys were born last summer and both are about as tame as feral cats can be. Free food, a warm and dry place to sleep, a nice guy who’ll scratch their heads and coo at them. They know when they’ve got it good.
In November, I made the last payment on my Audi and immediately began sniffing around for a Subaru Outback. As of this writing, however, I haven’t found one that I’m willing to drop $25,000 on; so – for now at least – I’ll just keep driving my car as hard as I can and using that non-existent car payment to cleave through other debts. Maybe in a few months, I’ll take the plunge; I’m not quite ready to do that yet.
Also in November, I got to meet Amy’s family and have Thanksgiving dinner with them; and just two days ago I returned from yet another trip to Waukegan during which Amy and I attended the Midwest Music Conference (my first time) and also caught a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (also a first for me). Both of these events were things that I’ve heard about for decades – and both lived up to the hype.
And that brings us pretty much up to date; though I’m certain that, as soon as I click the “publish” button up there, I’ll remember amazing things that happened during the year and will immediately berate myself for not including them in this rambling epistle. Suffice it to say that, on average, 2012 has been a decent year, with only that minor annoyance – the job – scratching the otherwise shiny brass and silver coating. So, as I begin the last week of the year – the last week before I’m 47! – I’ll look forward to figuring out how to deal with the employment situation and will wish all of you reading this a most delightful and rewarding 2013. And, though I don’t have her permission to do so, I’ll finish this up by quoting from the end of Cy’s annual letter, wherein she (or, perhaps, “T”) beautifully advises us that
“…we are, indeed, blessed. We have what we need and more, and it is incumbent upon us to share. No one of us will ever be able to eliminate all sorrow or alleviate all pain or worry. But we can do our part, every day, to make some portion of our world a little better. It is the gift we can always give, in any season and in any place.”
Think about that.
TWD