Year End 2021

It was a year to remember. This is my annual report for 2021. Life has continued.

This year I achieved the status of Old Person with the arrival of my 80^th birthday. I enjoyed another year of longevity with Pete Weiler by my side. We are still a couple after five years, and still single. Pete is good, generous, helpful, enjoyable and a wonderful companion. Having him with me mattered greatly during a year of staying at home much of the time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I stayed home a lot but still found things to do.

Pete and I played card and board games, watched streaming programs and videos, brought home plenty of carryout meals and went on a few short trips around the state. We saw some American Players Theater professional plays in person or online, and we visited Ten Chimneys, the home of actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. We traveled to Milwaukee and took in an immersive exhibit of Van Gogh paintings which were greatly enlarged and projected onto walls.

One highlight of the year was granddaughter Andrea’s wedding to Jed. Our families got together on Labor Day weekend in the great outdoors of Spring Green and enjoyed all the festivities. It was wonderful to have all my adult children there and see this great couple tie the knot. They are living and working in Madison.

A less pleasant occurrence was the break-in at my home in June while I was vacationing at Washington Island (more about the island later). Someone broke windows and entered my home. Daughter-in-law Sherry discovered a broken bedroom window when she came to water my outdoor plants. She and my son John found drawers emptied onto the floor, contacted the police, and then called me. I am thankful for my loving family. Fortunately, very little was taken and apart from two broken windows there was no vandalism. Most of my valuables, which are minimal anyway, were not taken. Whoever did it might have chosen to rob someone who actually had something to steal besides a lot of original artwork. The burglar didn’t even take the drawerful of my (deceased) mother’s jewelry. We never found out who broke in. 

I took several trips of Washington Island during the summer. My island home is the local campground. In addition to staying there I showed three of my colored pencil drawings at the island Art and Nature Center’s annual exhibit for the summer. One of the island visits was tent camping with daughter Dori and her husband Steve and their son Robbie. I am getting old for camping in tents, but it was fun and went well. The other times at the island included housing in a cabin on the campground. I love being there in the woods. Pete did not accompany me to the island. 

The pandemic lessened my volunteer activities during much of the year. The library reopened for in person service in September so I went back then and resumed my usual duties. The senior center arranged to have committee meetings on Zoom; I am honored to be on the Committee on Aging and the Senior Center Foundation board. We did some other gatherings online as part of my volunteer tasks for the senior center.  Giving back to the community by volunteering is important in my life.

We had a year of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which I think of as a plague. A new President took office January 6 while protesters enacted a violent riot at the Capitol; we watched it with shock via television and the internet. Mass shootings ocurred in schools, shopping centers and even a Christmas parade. Businesses, churches, schools and workplaces closed their doors for much of the year while Covid raged and many people worked and studied at home via Zoom. Many have reopened with some requiring masks and vaccinations for participation. Wildfires consumed the American west. All these happenings contributed to my stresses and wondering where it all is going and what will happen next. That’s the news for the year.