Reflections on a Year and Decade

Here I sit, on a very gloomy, foggy, grey morning, surrounded by darkness even though it is nearly nine o’clock, and I’m trying to think of something brilliant to write about the past year and the past decade.  But the thing is, I don’t remember too much of it – either the year or the decade, because so much of everyday life blurs in to a big grey cloud of nothingness, much like this morning.  This reflection on the past will then very surely not be brilliant, and is more likely to be, dare I say it, short. 

The thing is, I love dark gloomy days when street lights are on all day because they think it’s night.  I love when quiet fogs come rolling in, creating a stillness so vast that even the birds stay mute.  Love it.  The trees stop their singing in the wind, and occasionally, a burst of rain showers with world with sound as it hits the tin roof.  It is the perfect day for chain tea-drinking and thinking deep thoughts.  (Clearly, I’ve an English heritage, no?)

So what to say about a year that was filled with little matters of the everyday that are so mundane the brain forgets them?  I don’t think there is much to say about it, except that it was good.  We’ve had a good year. 

And what about a decade that is a bit more bespeckled with interesting incidents that are more remembered and permanently lodged in to a person’s (and a society’s) brain?

Ten years was a long time ago – I can hardly remember who I was then.  It was a really big New Year that year – 2000.  We were on the cusp of Fin di Siecle, the Eve of the Millennium.  Then Y2k came and went with nary a hint of problem. 

The rest of the decade seems filled with some pretty dark stuff, come to think of it – 9/11, 3/11 (Spain), McMansions, and then the near-collapse of the economic system as we know it. 

But in between all that horrid stuff, there were some really wonderful things.  After college came grad school, and immediately after I graduated, I met Jason (swoon!). 

Things were pretty slow up to that point, but then it was like someone hit the fast forward button (you can let go of that button now, someone!) and the next five years fairly flew by.

We met, were engaged, got hitched, and then were pregnant with one small cuddly little guy named Leif.  We moved, we moved, then we moved again.  And then we moved, then moved, and then moved again.  And then we moved – and, oh, I’ve lost count.  We ended up here somewhere along the way.

And that about brings us up to now. 

There is, of course, much more that makes up a decade than the events too big to forget and the ones too small to remember.   There are jokes around the dinner table, laughing until your sides hurt and cheeks are wet with tears.  There are moments making presents for new little babes due to arrive in the world.  There is the happy chasing of butterflies with little squeals.  There are mountains of dishes after a holiday meal.  There are seeds planted and watched as they grow.  There are full moons and blue moons and waning moons, too.  There is French Press coffee in the morning, steaming and black.  There are birthdays with candles and silly hats.  There are birds doing crazy dances in the water outside.  There are books read and forgotten, books read and remembered.  There are oil lamps glowing at night in the dark.  There are bubbles to chase as they blow in the wind.  There are kisses to make little hurts feel better.  There are tears of joy at weddings, and tears of mourning at funerals.  There are nights of late studying for exams in the morning. There are lawns to be mowed and bushes to be pruned.  There are little favors for you do to for others, and others to do for you.  There are road trips to be taken to places new and old.   There are fireworks on holidays. There is snuggling in bed as a family.  There is getting caught in the rain and soaked to the bone.  There are lists to be made.  There are toys to play with and put away.  There are walks in the evening after dinner.   There are tulips in the park to be seen.  There is water to be splashed around in the pool on a hot summer day.   There is the lovely peace and quiet in the house when the child is asleep, snuggled up like an angel in the blankets.

There are things we’ll always remember and always forget.

We’ve had a good year.  We’ve had a good decade, and there isn’t much more in the world you can ask for than that.

Here’s to a good New Year and a good New Decade for all!