2020 Rear View Review
-The following 2020 review was done by excerpting the first line or few in one post from each month last year. You can click on the name of the month for a full accounting.
January – A High IQ: The moon shines / outside the box / With a genius of light / it illuminates the dark
February – Mostly He Paints Rabbits but sometimes he paints butterflies and birds. It was Valentine’s Day at the Taubman Museum of Art, and we were surprised and delighted by the Huntopia installations of Hunt Slonem, which spanned several rooms and were arranged as home décor. All our selfies looked better with art.
March: It’s been a dizzying turn of events in the last few weeks. But, for a couple of days, we had a campground to ourselves, which was located by a nearby park along the New River. In a pinch, Liam toasts a chocolate sea-salt protein bar. We also popped popcorn over the fire. How many free take-out fries can you eat in Fries (freeze) VA? And how many more weeks will we be social distancing?
April – It was a bucket list hike. We didn’t even know we were looking for it. An orchid. In the wild. I’d never seen a native one before, although I was aware they could be found in the woods of the Blue Ridge mountains where we live…The trail in the Rock Castle Gorge is becoming like our back-yard, a second home, a pandemic weekend get-away.
May – I’m pretty sure our neighborhood catbird gave me a wolf whistle. And the wood thrush plays hard to get.
June –The 5th Annual Little River Poetry Festival (at On the Water in Floyd) was my first event since the pandemic sent us all home to our rooms. It was the smallest turnout yet but that made for a deeper sharing and enough were committed to coming that it turned out to be a wonderful success. People sat in every other chair and avoided hugging, which was hard. Applause and laughter erupted regularly. Swallows flew in and out of the tent as poets participated in twice-daily Open Mics, a popular part of the annual literary festivities.
July – Sometimes the best thing you can do at the beach is to go to the pool, especially when it’s 95 degrees, you have a sunburn and the wind at the shore is in full force. I brought a beach book, but so far mostly I’ve just been reading menus in search of fried clams, but I think that’s a New England thing. So far, my favorite beach house name is “HAPPY OURS.”
August – Summer Exhale / Clouds close in / and mushrooms appear/ where lady slippers / trillium and bluebells were / A moon sail rises / A lovesick sun sets / A hammock swing rocks / and my eyes glaze over / I haven’t heard / my own voice all day.
September – Text to Joe while dog sitting: I was trying to get a picture of me and my new canine friend to send to my grandson Bryce who loves dogs when she French kissed licked me. Her name is Petunia but I keep calling her Tuna or Tulip.
October – Who ya gonna call? Someone who makes sense or someone who talks nonsense? Trump’s fake tan make-up is starting to look like a light version of black-face.
November -Two baked pies and two written poems later, the carport Thanksgiving actually happened on a lovely light decked porch deck, small and coronavirus style in 60-degree clear sky weather.
December – A light in the dark / saves what is lost / anoints the silent night / when the paths of ages cross / When closed hearts open / and wise ways are taken / alignments are blessed / in the age of Aquarius
-Click HERE for the 2019 Rear View Review
January 7th, 2021 2:16 pm
Yep, it certainly *was* a year. But you found joy (or at least laughter) each month and that’s what it’s all about. …
Ps: can’t believe after yesterday that I’m just reading and commenting as if it is a normal week … but I guess I could have written that for the past four years. .
January 7th, 2021 5:29 pm
Yeah, I had this ready before the horrible incident at the Capitol. I deal with that stuff mostly on my Facebook page.
January 12th, 2021 6:42 pm
I really like this, Colleen. I might have to copycat your idea next year. June and October stick out. The first because I remember those few weeks when the thought all was going to be well (it felt good, even if it didn’t last), the second because I can totally understand the bewilderment.