Boy howdy, 2020, am I right? That was some crazy year.
I think when we all think back on 2020, it will feel like watching the “In Memorium” segment of The Oscars, where the audience takes a collective breath because they know what’s coming. It is a carefully scripted way to walk through what we didn’t realize we appreciated until it was gone. Like going to the store and seeing toilet paper on the shelves in the toilet paper aisle. Like watching a retired Kobe Bryant, as comfortable in his skin as ever, accept an Oscar and talk about his love of being a “girl dad”. Like seeing your parents in person.
There will also be morsels of cuteness buried in the year that be footnotes worthy of further explanation. We will have to laugh at the crazy long hairdo’s and recall why everyone was wearing masks with funny faces in real life instead of just on social media. We will have to explain what a Zoom call was, and why entire neighborhoods were banging on pots and pans at 5pm in major American cities. We will have to explain why Walmart has stickers on the floor to make shopping aisles one way only.
2020 was the year the musical “Hamilton” went from being an impossible ticket to get to the soundtrack of which you could belt out a line and have your neighbor finish it for you without missing a beat.
2020 also was the year when the walk to my home office started making squishy sounds and we discovered our house plumbing had sprung a leak in the slab. And after pulling up the engineered hardwood flooring and drying it off, we discovered I was just handy and cheap enough to jigsaw puzzle it all back together after the leak was fixed.
2020 was the year when it became okay to say it is just too much, because it was too much and everybody knew it. The year when Animal shelters had room again, and irritable pets and kids joined in on business calls to reach out to one another.
2020 was the year of Corgi transition. We lost Cooper, got Winnie, and Loki came of age. We looked it up and found he is the highest rated Corgi Rat Hunter in the state of Texas. And from his strut, he damn well knows it. We are on a bit of a break until the next event, and I have time to consider adjustments. Like, should we introduce theme music as he enters the ring? Maybe “Flight of the Valkries”, something to juice up the crowd. Maybe we could make him a little cape, or a holster to wear?
2020 was the year where, after much deliberation, we decided to invest in our sweet ride – our 5 year old Nissan Rogue – with new tires, struts, and a new transmission. Some of that was our decision. Like calling it “our sweet ride” – that was all me. Did you know there is on onboard computer in your car with a code that says “replace the transmission”. That was a new one on me. I only thought of this later, but I should have asked them for the price of replacing the transmission vs. the price of replacing the onboard computer so I could weigh my options.
And 2020 was the year we learned none of these little setbacks matter in the least if you have your health and loved ones around you. We hope you and yours came through it all right. Stay safe and have a happy holiday season.
Jesse, Diane, Loki, Malloy and little Winnie
Corgi Ranch, TX 