Twenty Twenty will forever live in people’s minds as the worst year in history. Of course, it is far to easy to say that, I am sure that my worst year, can in no way be as bad as someone who had to live thru famines, or the Holocaust, or the dozens if not hundreds of other calamities that have happened throughout history. For me, I would consider 2020 the most inconvenient year in history, that I can recall.
It would be pretty easy for me to start a rant, and go off on things that went badly, like not having a proper Graduation for my senior, or not being able to go on my trip to Philmont and so on. Instead, let me tell you the things that went well this year.
Because this is what I really want to remember.
For almost all of 2020 I worked from home. This was not something new to me as I was already considered a “remote” employee, and had already adjusted to that way of working. What I did not expect with all of this, is the fact that since the outbreak, I have not been really sick once. That is quite remarkable because I usually get sick at least three to four times per year. Although I have no evidence or data to back this up, I believe that with everyone in our house staying home, wearing masks and social distancing that the normal flu and colds we usually got were not able to catch hold. It will be interesting to see what happens once we go back to work and school and go back to whatever normal is.
Shopping in our home has changed, for the better. Not only are we making a better effort to shop more local stores, but we are also taking advantage of all the new pickup options that places are offering. I have to believe that this is going to be a permanent change in our society. Obviously there will still be a need to go to touch and feel products, like my wife and I did when we bought a new Washer and Dryer. But for most people, shopping online and picking up your order the same day or the next is perfectly fine.
I already mentioned that my oldest son graduated, and of course I was very happy for him and my wife and I as it was a milestone for our family. However, the ceremony was disappointing and left me with a very anti-climactic feeling on the whole thing. This was not the fault of any of the School administration or Staff involved in planning the ceremony. In fact, they did a fabulous job considering all of the obstacles they had to face. I am shocked they were even able to have a ceremony. It was not the graduation, but my son’s decision to join the Army National Guard that made me proud as a father can be. He had a couple reasons of joining. Of course, having your tuition payed for, dressing in Army gear and Shooting guns were a big incentive. He also told us that the incidents around the George Floyd tragedy, and how the Guard was brought in to help the community sealed the deal. I would like to think that all those years of Scouting also had a big influence. Nothing feels better than giving back to your neighbors and the community.
One of the bigger surprises of 2020 was how much I enjoyed Many Point Scout camp this year. I was really not looking forward to it. Daily temperature checking, small groups of ten, single tenting, all kinds of precautions with food. Well, I can easily say it was one of the best years for being at camp. Not only were we moved to a shoreline campsite because there was less campers there, but the new changes to the process of checking in and checking out was fantastic. The Scouts had a great time, and everything I was worried about was for nothing. I need to hand it to the staff of the Camp to making the camping during COVID a huge success for our Troop. Thank You!
Another surprise of last year, was discovering all of the great restaurants we have in our area. Our family made an effort to visit at least one different restaurant every week. We did still go to some of our favorites like Christo’s, Chipotle and Original Pancake House. One of my new favorite places is Pizza Karma which makes Tandoori style chicken, although I seem to be the only one who likes it. We tried some new Fried Chicken places, Thai, Chinese, actually too many to even mention. What I learned from this is that we need to stop going to the same places over and over again, and try some new foods.
Another highlight for me this year was getting a Smoker. I had a pseudo smoker for around four years, it was part wood/charcoal grill, and part smoker. And although it worked okay, it was very hard to manage the temperature of the meat. And for anyone who has attempted to make Brisket, you know that keeping a good constant temperature is key for smoking. I really enjoyed making lots of smoked meats for my friends and sharing with them, socially distant of course. I am looking forward to trying a lot of different recipes this year.
Another great memory was helping a former Eagle Scout from my Troop with a capstone project for their college programming course. I worked with him from start to finish on a prototype of a Leadership mobile app for Scouts. It would take data from the Troop web hosting app we use, and then import it into a custom application that was written in Dart. It was a great experience working with him and watching him finish the project. The project got him an A, and it also opened the door to him getting his first programming job.
Of course, 2020 would not be complete without mentioning that I am the proud new owner of a 2010 F-150. I really was not looking for a Truck, but I must admit it has come in very handy for pulling the Scout trailer, and also hauling rocks and dirt for all the summer projects we did. It was just by chance that I was looking for a car for my oldest son, when it just happened to see this Truck was available.
Well, here is to hoping that 2021 has just as many good memories as 2020. With all that said, I am happy to see 2020 in the past.