2023. Fastest year ever. It was like a whirlwind. It seems like I had to force time to catch a breath (only when absolutely necessary mental health-wise – I’m last minute like that). 2023 is almost all a blur now, that is until I open up my phone and travel through the year. What a trip. I am in the future. 2023 at my fingertips. At first thought, I didn’t accomplish much in 2023. I came up short on goals, physical goals, writing goals, even reading goals. My phone however is here to remind me that I did do much in 2023. I lived in 2023.
A Chronical of the year that hit me like a whirlwind and left me exhausted (It’s good to be exhausted):
January
Spring semester began, I was teaching 3 days a week. I also enrolled in another piano course and one day a week after my class, walked to the music building next-door to Business Sciences for piano. I stayed local mostly because I was having car trouble (my gauge wasn’t measuring gas in the tank accurately. Twice I ran out of gas, once thankfully in my driveway). So, I hiked beaches and used my bus pass happily (I was tired of driving anyway, and tired of gas prices too).
February
Chiquito Falls were flowing once again. All of our creeks flowed like crazy – in the coastal hills and mountains. The wild grass was fresh and green. New growth was everywhere. California got enough rain to end our most recent drought. But I did not venture out much with classes to plan, committee meetings to attend, new music to learn, etc.
March
The rain continued to fill our creeks. Attended my son’s Junior Recital at his university and a dear friend’s wedding at a lovely spot in the mountains. It rained almost all of the time, even during the wedding (but that’s what made it even more enchanting). Began attending Thursday night Lent supper services at church. I was still riding the bus to work which meant I had a lot of much cherished reading time and finally finished a book that I had been reading for a while. I think that was the beginning of my exhaustion. (Great book though).
April
Continued attending Lent soup dinner services on Thursday nights. Attended more concerts. I was so looking forward to my hike to Baker Cross on Good Friday. But one week prior to this finale, I caught COVID19, my first bout. I went down pretty hard, I think mainly because I hiked ten miles in Black Star Canyon without knowing I was already ill. I was out of commission for a bit. I tested negative pretty quickly and most symptoms vanished but fatigue and depression lingered. I was in a funk for a while.
May
Fully back to work but a time of recovery. More lovely concerts and also the university music award banquet for my son. The blackberries began to blossom in the backyard and spring was bursting out all over due to our late rains. (During drought, spring flowers are long gone by May.)
June
Youngest son graduated high school, oldest son flew in from East 
Coast. Had dinner with the entire family for the first time in a few years. It was a lovely time. But only the beginning! Flew out to NYC with husband, my middle son and girlfriend to see him play in a guitar orchestra at the Manhattan School of Music. Oldest son flew out too. It was a time of chaos at the airports (lots of cancellations) but we did amazingly well. We ate wonderful food, saw the sights (Central Park, Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, etc). Later, we drove to Maryland to stay with oldest son and his girlfriend. Ate homemade tortillas at his place, wonderful crab at a local joint then enjoyed more sights and excellent seafood at the National Harbor. I was calling the trip a “Foodcation” by this point. Ended East Coast trip with a stay at an Airbnb in Arlington, Va (Crystal City) where we enjoyed the National Mall in DC and excellent dining in Virginia. It was a long trip home with a layover in Charlotte that was delayed and eventually cancelled (but we had already found another flight before the cancellation!) I taught summer online classes during the trip. I pre-recorded my lectures but still had tutoring hours to adhere to. Even so, I had fallen a little behind, especially with the new piano class I had enrolled in for the short semester. House was still standing when we arrived back at home. Youngest son kept the garden flowers alive. 
July
Continued teaching online courses, worked on catching up with everything: unpacking, cleaning, gardening, piano, grading, and trying to get a date nailed down with the US Forest Service for the marathon. On the last Sunday of the month, I attended my 35th High School Reunion. 35 years since I had graduated from high school -- Yikes.
August
More rain, lovely summer rain. We had an earthquake as well (five something on the Richter scale if my memory serves correctly). Attended son’s summer concert at our church, helped sons move into dorms, prepped classes for fall semester and attended piano classes online from my Livingroom.
September
Got an answer on a marathon date (November, not enough time!). Back in the air for another trip, this time with husband to see family in Texas and pack up things from storage to have shipped home. Flew into Austin, saw family for a few days south of Dallas and rented a U-haul. Drove to Waco to unload into a U-box and met our oldest son at Austin airport. Saw family places in Giddings, spent time at the Wendish museum in Serbin then returned next day for the Wendish festival. Was a wonderful ending to a stressful trip. Spent last night in Texas at the worst hotel ever, across from the Capitol, seriously don’t ever stay at the La Quinta Inn across from the state capitol – it was comical. Flight home was turbulent but made it without any cancellations (not so for our son).
October
October I finally got back on the trails. The lush green hillsides had turned brown, flowers at home were blooming in abundance. Felt a little bit in a race against time putting the marathon together. It was going to be a small race and I wasn’t sure when to pull the trigger on the shirts, medals etc. Stressful month. And then I was back in the air again. This time, for a business conference in Florida that I felt really fortunate to be a part of. Thing was, it came at a tough time. Left early on a Wednesday with a colleague, stayed in an awesome Orlando hotel, was catered to with fine food, spent an evening at Epcot and was back by the weekend (late Friday night). Talk about whirlwind.
November
Got lots of hiking in, scouting and prepping trails for race. Received
bad news about my beloved uncle on life support week prior to race, then day of, while marking Viejo Tie, learned my mother was in hospital for heart issues. We had the marathon, was a small race, old-school you might say. A lot of runners liked it, a couple didn’t appreciate that it was long. Was great to be back in Blue Jay. The next week, I drove out to Nevada, stayed the night in Spring Valley to be with my uncle. On return stopped by the Liberty Sculpture Garden down a dirt road outside of Yermo, California and spent some time wandering about the anti-communist monuments that I only seen from the highway but had never investigated close up (I had no idea even the topic). Had a quiet Thanksgiving in Fallbrook with the family, mother recuperating with a date scheduled for surgery. Was super good to be with family.
December
Christmas Boat light parade down at the harbor, the NutCracker Suite with my niece in a staring role. Youngest son went to emergency hospital for internal bleeding. As he healed, oldest son flew out for pre-Christmas visit. Drove with eldest out to Vegas and stayed downtown after spending time with my uncle. Worked on race permits. Mother had heart surgery. Went to Disneyland with all 3 sons and their girlfriends. Closed up fall semester, Christmas shopped, stayed two days in Redlands with middle son and girlfriend. Christmas celebration in Fallbrook. Day after Christmas, drove to Nevada and got a hotel in Vegas, met Cousin’s son and we spent time with my uncle. Walked on the beach on the last day of the year and spent a quiet time at home with my husband meeting the new year.
