One Blog at a Time

Happy New Year January 1, 2020

PROMPT January 1st ▼

Welcome to 2020! As we start a new decade, take the time in your entry today to look back on the previous decade (2010-2019). Write about some of the major milestones from the past ten years. When you look back on your life over the past decade, what events stand out as most noteworthy and significant?

I've been anxiously waiting for this first day of blogging. So here I am covering the last decade. But don't worry, it blurred by so fast I can't remember most of it.

Though my anniversary date is 2009, I only started posting at WDC July 2017. It was then I was introduced to Dave @ The Poet's Place Cafe and little by little stretched out to other contests and activities. I became excited about writing again. I have learned so much from reading the diverse work here and I love receiving feedback on my own writing. It has made me a better writer and here I am trying to blog. Thank you WDC

I lost two beautiful huskies, Trey in 2015 and Daisy in 2017. I said no more pets after I lost Daisy. But when my husband was home recovering from triple bypass heart surgery he was bored and wanted company when I went off to the office. So I found a feral kitten for him. Cats pick their people and I'm hers. If you read any of my stuff, you'll run into Molly every once in a while.

The teens were the decade of broken bones. 2013, I fell out of a tree picking plums and broke my first bone ever at the age of 70. 2017, I slipped getting out of the bathtub and broke my hand and my foot. I'm learning to slow down and be more cautious. I also had a bout with breast cancer, the second time in 15 years but caught it early, had surgery, 6 weeks of daily radiation and only missed 2 days of work. I went on my lunch hours to get zapped. To be fair, I'm the boss (I have my own insurance agency) and I cut my work hours which I have continued since. More time to write.

Speaking of work, the last decade has been the decade of firestorms here in California. I've seen the devastation first hand and helped clients who lost everything. Now there is a milestone, you remember when you have to flee your home. My husband was safely on our boat in Mexico at the time, but this last October, because of wind and fire, I had to leave my home. I evacuated to my office which was in a safe zone. Sleeping on my office couch, with my 18-year-old granddaughter sleeping on the floor, we were rousted at 3:30 am by the police with lights, sirens and bull horns telling everyone to get out of town, it was no longer safe. Then we sat in bumper to bumper traffic with 100,000 others headed south. Quite an experience. I did not lose my home and returned after 2 days. The power was out in the area for a full week but I have a generator so I was OK. It is interesting that the people who lost everything were grateful for any support or kindness. The people who lost a few hundred dollars worth of meat from their freezers because of the power outages were the more demanding and difficult to deal with.

I did a little traveling in the last decade, I went to Nashville and had a great time. The Grand Old Opry, Broadway "Music Row", took a riverboat tour and attended a retreat for pediatric stroke survivors. My 3rd granddaughter was born with only half a brain. But that is for another blog. And I more recently joined the family for 2 weeks of their a 6-week road trip. A family of 6 in a motorhome and adding grandma for 2 weeks was an adventure. We stayed in KOAs, saw all of the sights, ate the local food, and played card games at night. My young grandson after seeing Valley Forge one day and then going to Gettysburg the next got a little confused. Valley Forge was easy, he knew we were on George Washington's side. However, the next day in Gettysburg, standing in the museum between two soldier manikins, one dressed in blue and one in grey, he asked which team were we on? Being a native Californian, the Civil War was just history. I had never thought of it personally.

So that wraps up the decade that was. On to the 2020s one day at a time.