7th Day of Christmas/New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year’s Eve! At least in the Gregorian calendar. If I forget to say it on future New Year’s holidays this year: Happy New Year’s in the Julian calendar, Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Nowruz, Happy Islamic calendar New Year, and any others that I’m forgetting!

Today’s gift is the gift of reflection, and thanks to my writer friend Diana for sharing this website with me. This website has 10 great questions to ask yourself about this past year. Do this exercise however you wish: grab a notebook and journal your answers, talk them through with a person close to you, or even just think through them yourself. You can do as many of the questions as you want. I’ll answer one of them below, in my usual long-winded way.

End Your Year Intentionally with These 10 Questions

Also, because it’s New Year’s Eve, I’m going to share with you this German tradition. People there watch this hilarious classic British sketch every year, despite it not being shown much in Britain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVd_VLO9xcc Be aware that the first two minutes is an introduction in German, but the rest is in English. To understand why it’s so popular there, check out this short funny video by a Brit living in Germany which analyzes this phenomenon. https://www.dw.com/en/dinner-for-one-a-bizarre-german-new-years-eve-tradition/av-51711675

For today’s prayer, let’s pray for 2020 to be better for everyone, especially people who have been hit the hardest by natural disasters, war/terrorism, or the pandemic. And for everyone who is spending the holiday alone. Thank you.

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I’ll put my answer to #1 here to whet your appetite. It reads “What makes this year unforgettable?” Well, obviously Covid, but besides that, I’ll say Wildflowers, Waterfalls, and Wacky/Wonderful times with family.

Before the lockdowns began, I got to visit my friend in Fremont, and she took me hiking to Coyote Hills overlooking the Bay. The best part? Poppies everywhere, against the rocky outcrops and on the lush green hills. In July, I got to hike the Cone Peak/Iron Mountain trail with my friend Natasha. Up high in the Old Cascades, the meadows were blanketed with every color you could imagine. In August, my friend Alex and I hiked the epic Whitewater Creek trail to Jefferson Park. There were some flowers still in the alpine meadows, but in the areas of the trail burned by a wildfire a couple years ago, there was bright pink tall fireweed everywhere. This gives me hope for the future now that the entire area has burned from the crazy fires this year.

In Oregon, waterfalls are a dime a dozen, and I’ve seen so many of them multiple times. But this year, I got to see some that I’d never seen before. Natasha and I found four of them east of Cottage Grove just after a big rain, so the water was plentiful but other hikers were blessedly scarce. I had no idea these gorgeous falls were so close! Later in the summer, I took my niece to Henline Falls in the Opal Creek wilderness area. After playing in the crystal clear pool below it, we followed the directions I’d found online to find some unofficially named, off-trail waterfalls. We had to hike up and down crazy steep not-quite-trails and then “creek-whack” to the first of the “Family Falls” waterfalls, Jerry Falls. From there, we couldn’t make it over the giant boulders to get to any of the other waterfalls, so we turned back. But it was great fun seeing a beautiful waterfall that very few people had. And probably won’t for a while, since that whole area was also burned by wildfires this summer. I also saw other falls that I’d seen before but love. Mom and I checked out awesome Paulina Falls on a day trip to Central Oregon. And of course, when my friend Cindy came to visit me in Oregon, I took her to my favorite waterfalls, Upper and Lower Proxy Falls.

For wacky and wonderful times with family, I will mention a few of these treasured times. For Easter, I put together a Zoom family reunion for my mom’s side of the family that is spread out across the USA. They liked it so much that we’ve kept it going every month! Actually, this answer would count for question #4, “What’s your biggest win this year?” Getting to know family more has been great. My nieces in Ohio attended some of my Zoom game nights in the spring. It was so great to see them, and my great-niece and great-nephew! I also took mom on some day trips where she got to face some fears: kayaking beautiful Clear Lake, driving to the top of Paulina Peak, and picking peaches. Okay, no fears at the peach farm, but that was a first for me, so it was fun! I also got to see my dad’s side of the family for an outdoor picnic when my cousin joined the military, and got to pretend-camp in my cousin’s yard and eat cold s’mores with one of her adorable kids. And of course, old-fashioned visits with the rest of my immediate family (dad, brother, nieces and nephews, etc.). Then there’s the extended family- I got to camp at Waldo Lake again with my cousin-in-laws and friends from church, and go on short hikes and do other fun outdoor activities with friends.

All these things helped keep me going when the weather turned cold and we couldn’t get together as easily. What made this year unforgettable for you? What was your biggest win? Feel free to answer these or any of the other 10 questions in the comments below.