Welcome to the past

Today I drove an hour through the Minnesota countryside to browse at a thrift store. I so wished I could have pulled off that two lane road to photograph the six deer prancing in a single-file line across a snowy field, but alas, I could not. I did not. Maybe I could have? But I didn’t.

I also didn’t photograph the many frozen lakes dotted with fish houses. I truly do not understand the sport of ice fishing. (Sport? Hobby? Diversion? Punishment? Curious Minnesota custom?) I did want to photograph it but I was not able to since I was driving 60 miles per hour past the frozen lakes. I do remain curious, however.

I had a restorative time browsing through the Goodwill store. (I bought a set of vintage dishes, “Morning Star” which were last produced in 1958. Okay, I also bought some books. Sue me.)

I’ve had such a busy season (we all have, I know) with my retail job and kids visiting and the holidays and, boy howdy, I needed to be alone. I listened to podcasts on the way there and back. I know we haven’t been meeting here (in this blog) like we used to so you don’t know because I haven’t told you that when I relocated to Minnesota, I decided to watch The Office television show, start to finish. I had literally never watched a single episode. I may have developed a teeny tiny obsession. I’m currently reading The Bassoon King by Rainn Wilson.

I’m also listening to an entire podcast about The Office. When I dive, I dive deep. I’ve been through the entire series almost twice and then Netflix had the nerve to stop streaming it last night. [Insert crying face emoji here.]

Anyway.

I know this was a weird year for everyone but I like to believe that My Weird Year™ trumps your weird year because on top of COVID-related events, I also packed up and moved my entire household (minus two kids) by myself while working 12-hour shifts . . . and my awesome husband was living 1,400 miles away the whole time. I have thrown so many things overboard to keep afloat that I don’t know what’s at the bottom of the sea or in the garage.

Also, while other families were cozying up at home, ordering in meals and groceries and collecting over six hundred dollars a week in unemployment benefits while lounging around in sweatpants and consuming vast amounts of streaming entertainment, I’ve managed to somehow be an “essential employee,” which means my life stayed essentially the same. I was still commuting, working, purging, cleaning, packing and moving. Nothing ever really changed for me other than wearing a mask in public and the bitterness I experienced when California closed my trails and beaches while I was trying to enjoy every little thing about California for the last time.

So annoying.

(Also, I know some people really suffered from COVID-induced situations and I do not intend to belittle anyone’s suffering. I’m just over-generalizing and exaggerating for comic effect even though I’m no comic, I know.)

I also took a cross-country road trip by myself which honestly was a highlight of my year. If only I could drive through Utah and Colorado again, but this time, with a full night of sleep beforehand.

While putting up 2021 calendars today, I noticed that the old calendar hanging on my office wall since I moved here was a calendar from 2016. I invite you to consider what kind of ditzy person I am if I’ve had a 2016 wall calendar hanging on my wall for . . . how long? Since California? Did I have this hanging on my wall in California? Did I find it in a box when I got here and figured it was a 2020 calendar and hang it up? What kind of time warp am I in that I failed to notice that the calendar did not correspond with any type of day-to-day reality?

Add to to my confusion that in 2016, January 1 was on a Friday. Just like today. What is happening?

Then I realized. Leap Year. So I will be able to use this calendar for two months.

Will it still be hanging up all year? Only time will tell.

Welcome to the past.