2011 — Another Year Over

The finished basement finally was really finished with the books and bookcases brought down in January. Then the furnace and water heater venting problems were addressed resulting in replacing the water heater and the vent. The new tank has electric ignition (instead of a pilot light) so it will NEVER go out!

Also had an energy audit that reduced air leaks A LOT! From 1250 cfm to just over 300. The fireplace had to be sealed up in order to achieve that. Fireplace looks good…just can’t use it.

2011 was a brutal year for weather. We had record-breaking snow and by the end of the winter I was really, really glad that all I had to do was shovel off the deck and my car. The rest was taken care of. One benefit of condo living!

In April my mother passed. She was 5 months short of her 99th birthday.

The end of June I went to Maryland. Anne gave me a birthday present of a day at Sandy Spring Adventure Park. I kept thinking it was just zip lining, but what it turned out to be was a rope course. Long story short…after the 2nd zip and in the middle of the 3rd set of challenges I froze in fear. I could not get myself to go over the slack cable. Yes I was hooked in. Yes I had two slack cables to hold on to. But fear is fear and I aborted. It wasn’t until after that I got mad at myself. So I’m doing a lot of visualization (and not enough balance work) and in June of 2012 I will go back and I WILL COMPLETE that run. If I don’t do any more than that one, its OK. But I will do that one!

Summer saw record high temps and lots of rain…notably tropical storms Irene and Lee. Each of them dropped enough rain to fill the basement window well causing minor water issues. Irene was worse than Lee for window well flooding. The condo association is working on the “why” it happened in hopes of preventing it from happening again.

September saw me on Cape Cod at the same cottage I’ve been going to for 22 yrs. In October I went to Maryland to work as a volunteer at the Next To New Sale at Sidwell Friends school in D.C. Exhausting but fun.

On October 29th, Connecticut was treated to a major snowstorm while the trees were still in full leaf. I went to bed that Saturday night with my bedroom window open and listened to the snap, crack and hiss of trees breaking and falling. While most of the state was without electricity for up to 10 days, I did without for 37 hours. I don’t know how others did without for 10 days!

A week and a half after the snowstorm I rode my bike the length of the “impassable” Windsor Locks/Suffield Canal path. It was blocked every few feet with downed trees, but I managed to go over, under, around and through all obstacles. At one point I was pinned by my upside-down bike to a limb that had me snagged and my cell phone was on the ground six feet behind me. Obviously I got out of this jam unscathed. (What doesn’t kill me only makes me look forward to another adventure!)

Now winter is here, the end of another year, and the weather has been unbelievably mild so far. We have set records for high temps in the summer and precipitation for the year…warm and wet! My creative urges have been satisfied with cooking (most unlike me!) and, now that my sewing machine is up and running, probably some sewing. I haven’t written any poetry since August.

Since it’s the end of the year I feel I should have some words of Wisdom to offer. I don’t think I can do any better than what I wrote in my May 3, 2011 posting:

We can’t keep throwing hate at hate and expect our problems to be solved. Only Light dispels the darkness and only Love will replace hate.

I ask you to pray that Love and Light replace negativity on the planet.
I ask you to pray that all negativity be transmuted back to the Light.
I ask you to pray for Peace.
I ask you to Love one another.
I ask you to try really, really hard.

Happy New Year, everyone. May Peace be the theme of 2012!