A Tale of Two Seasons

It occurred to me tonight as we were on a shuttle from Main Street in Park City to our hotel, that I do have to thank the pandemic for one thing.  Because, really, what is a pandemic if nothing good can come of it?  We are here on at least our 20th ski trip to the area, yes, we are thankful!  We have been coming here since either 1996 or 97, in ski season.  Until the year 2020, I only knew this place as a ski destination. A place covered in snow with trees all lit up with white lights at night and people bundled up, full of life, after a day of fresh air on the ski slopes.  I had friends who spent their summers here and raved about what a great place it was in the summer and told us we should visit sometime in the summer... but we spend our summers in Nova Scotia.  That is...until 2020.  

The Park City I knew and loved!

In the year 2020, we were unable to go to Nova Scotia for the summer and we came here instead.  We did the same thing in 2021, until we could finally get into Canada. They were all correct!  This is a great place to be in the summer.  Being able to experience both summer and winter in Park City has been a real treat.  Tonight, we were remembering riding our bikes to town for a 4th of July parade.  We ate dinner very close to where we parked our bikes, it brought back fond memories.  I like the fact that I now know what those golf courses look like when they are green...and white!  I like that I know what the ski slopes look like in the off season. 

The view from my bike last summer. 
 I'll be skiing those mountains this week!

  

Having come here for several weeks, two summers in a row, I feel differently towards Park City.  She has so many different dimensions now.  I know what the views out of the church windows look like in two seasons.  Believe me, those windows are inspirational in either season!  I know the buzz in town at night after a great day on the ski slopes in addition to the buzz on the streets in the summer on the weekend during Park Silly Market.  I have now played golf on those courses that I look down on from the ski slopes.  I rode my bike on those now icy, snowy streets last summer and ate meals at the same places under fans and now heat lamps. 

I know this may not be news to some of you who live in places with distinctly different seasons, but for this Texas girl, it is a big deal.  Tonight, I was very happy to feel a kinship with my 2nd or 3rd "home"...at least for the last 2 years.  Thank you, pandemic.

2021...The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat

Welcome 2022...if you are nice to us, you can become our favorite year of the '20's so far!  Competition is not that tough though.  I have heard so many people say that 2021 was a bad year for them and they are looking forward to 2022 being a lot better. I sure hope they all get their wish! January is when many of us review the past year and consider what we hope the new year will bring.  To me, last year flew by on first reflection, but upon closer examination, it was a long year!  Think of where we started, where we have been and where we finally ended up.  Last year began with the death of my father and the birth of a grandson.  I am pretty sure those two events set the stage for what would be a year not unlike the old catch phrase from the Wide World of Sports opening.  "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat"  only in reverse.

Last year it seemed every dark moment was followed by a moment of hope and optimism which in turn was followed by darkness and the cycle repeated itself over and over.  I find myself not even knowing how to feel sometimes.  Consider last January.  Aside from the personal emotional rollercoaster of that month, the world was reeling from a spike in Covid cases, thanks to the holidays.  And who can blame us?  After almost a year of "flattening the curve" people just needed to be with their families.  Anyhow...January was when the first doses of the vaccine were being distributed and with them came some hope.  The next few months were spent trying to get as many of us vaccinated with the hope of making Covid go away.  Hope.  Those dark days of January were followed by the spring, and we all were feeling "protected" and finally comfortable to go out to dinner, get together with friends, shop, maybe even travel.  By May we were practically giddy.  And by June our new friend Delta entered the picture.  You see where I am going with this as far as Covid is concerned.  Every time we felt like we had this thing under control, felt free to live our lives and did, something changed, and we ended up at what keeps feeling like Groundhog Day.  The thrill of victory followed by the agony of defeat.

2021 seemed like a pretty good year to me, all things considered. After spending so much time alone together in 2020, we enjoyed the relative freedom of being with friends and family in 2021.  In 2021 we traveled around the states again but this year, we felt so much safer...until we didn't.  In 2021 we began the summer still wondering if and when we would be able to visit Nova Scotia, a bit defeating.  Then we found out we could visit in August, thrill of victory!  

There was that family vacation we planned in Park City at the beginning of August that completely fell apart due to Covid complications.  Thrill of victory followed by agony of defeat, followed by me unexpectedly able to fly to San Francisco to help my daughter and her family move into their new home.  Our year was spent making plans, adjusting our plans, cancelling our plans and making new plans.  Through it all, we did try our best to make the most of our days.  

We finally made it to Nova Scotia again in 2021 and any year we make it to the shore is a good year.  Thrill of victory.  We also had to jump through a few hoops to get there and back but they were worth it.  

After a Thanksgiving for 2 in 2020, we celebrated with 7 other people in 2021.  It was luxurious!  We were definitely thankful for the blessing of being together and being healthy.  Christmas 2021 was full of family...thrill of victory, but not unaffected by Covid cancellations...agony of defeat.  While we certainly missed the ones who could not travel, we were thankful for the ones who could.  I still find myself wondering what we are supposed to all learn and take away from the last 2 years.  Count the blessings in front of us?  Be flexible?  Don't worry or celebrate too much because it is all going to change soon? 

 I am not sure how this year is going to stack up.  One thing for sure, it will be a year like no other for us.  Today marks the last day of work for TJ.  After a career covering 44 years, 5 relocations, 15 different bosses, 6 different companies, thousands of miles flown and driven, hundreds of sales calls made as well as conferences attended and a few "side deals", he is retiring.  This uncharted territory has us feeling both excited and terrified.  I am sure that TJ being TJ, will figure out a way to fill his days over capacity with many legitimate and/or outlandish activities.  A few years ago, BC (before Covid), we looked forward to TJ's retirement and had big plans to travel around the world, or at least part of it, for an extended time.  We saved for this.  We dreamed about it.  It was a giant carrot dangling in front of us at the end of his career.  Those plans were put on the back burner sometime in 2020 just waiting for a bright green light to motivate us to start planning again.  My hope is that we are able to finally take this trip before we are too old and decrepit.  A friend shared a funny thought in her Christmas letter this year.  She said we are in the Go-Go years which will be followed by the Go-Slow years and end with our No-Go years.  We just want to Go while we still have it!

I for one, am hoping 2022 is less of a roller coaster and more of a monorail ride.  High in the air, moving forward at a steady pace. Cheers to 2022!  May you be the year we all want and need!