Big Time Catch Up 2020

Writing Seemed Trivial and Pointless

As it did for everyone else, the COVID-19 lockdown and other measures impacted what we did and how we did it in 2020. They still do, of course.

Notwithstanding being cooped up at home more than usual, I couldn't bring myself to write up our 2019 happenings and post it at Easter in 2020. They seemed trivial and irrelevant amid the worry and stress. As time passed, though, our views shifted. We were glad to get news from friends and colleagues, and they were from us. More than twelve months on here, here are some things we got up to in 2019. Some of them flowed into 2020 and were a significant change for us.

ALL OVER THE PLACE IN '19

In 2019, we didn't make a Fall trip to Maine as was our custom. Instead:

• In July, I met up with my daughters and their families for a week in Blairgowrie, Perthshire. Karen formed the rear party, took a week off work, and looked after the dogs back in NOVA.
• I returned the favour when Karen flew halfway around the world to visit her sister in New Zealand in January 2020.

We got away together for a Low Country Christmas and New Year with all the dogs.

We also spent a week away on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga and a long weekend in Davis, West Virginia.

On the work front, Karen managed to:

• Spend a week in Las Vegas at the annual Amazon Web Services event again.
• Go to Cyprus too, for a week in June. Somebody had to do it!

She didn't get to go to Japan in April '20. Wuhan stopped that

NO PLACE IN '20

We coped with the COVID-19 restrictions like many others. I worked from home, as usual. Karen worked alternate weeks at home and then at her workplace. We walked our dogs daily but had to adapt to the increased number of walkers on our trails. Virginia kept its parks open but closed the car park, which was pointless. We coped, though. We sharpened our online shopping skills, too.

Then, something, largely unexpected, came along and changed things.