2020: A Marvelous Time Ruining Everything

Welp. That was something.

I love making these annual year-in-review posts. This is my tenth one! And this year was certainly the strangest year of my life, and probably the strangest year of everyone reading this. 

So, let's get started!

January. On January 1, I think everyone was looking forward optimistically to the new year and new decade. I had an interview for a job that I would have really liked (except that it was only part time), but they didn't hire me because I was planning on grad school. My job wrapped up at the Sundance Film Festival, and I got to attend multiple films. I even attended an underwater VR experience, but my headset didn't work.

The director and subjects of Us Kids, a documentary about the Parkland survivors.

February. February 1 was the last day I attended films at the Festival; one of the shorts was literally nothing but grainy drone footage. The next week, I ran the Sweethearts 5k and got second place in my age division, so I won a teddy bear. 

On February 13, I learned that I had been accepted to the University of Utah's graduate history program, and I also began attending twice-weekly job trainings at This Is the Place Heritage Park, including a Leap Day training to drive the park's train. On Valentine's Day, my family went to the Pompeii exhibit at the Leonardo Museum.

March. After watching the Democratic debates in February, I was most impressed with candidate Amy Klobuchar, so on March 2, I went to a rally for her, right after submitting my ballot for her. Then a few hours later, she dropped out of the race. 

Then things started to go downhill, as things shut down. Schools closed, and almost all of us seasonal employees were let go from This Is the Place. Since I have money saved and I was planning on school, I didn't try to get another job. I had to spend St. Patrick's Day wearing green at home but not in public. Then the next day, I was awakened at 7:08 by an earthquake, the first one I have ever experienced. We dealt with aftershocks for weeks afterwards. But not everything was bad. My brother brought his family from California to Utah for an extended stay, since we have a more spacious house and California's lockdowns were more restrictive.

April. We went all out for Easter, since my nephews didn't remember ever celebrating it, and they loved it, second only to Christmas at our house. My dad constructed a garden wall, almost entirely by himself, since his work didn't want him to come in for a while (even though they still paid him). This garden brought us many months of agricultural joy: zucchini for soup, pancakes, sweet bread, and crisp (see October); tomatoes for savory cobbler, savory pie, and pasta sauce; and pumpkins for jack-o'-lanterns. 

May. As the snow melted, trail running became more and more viable. North Canyon is my favorite, and I ran there almost every day through October; on one May run, my glasses broke (good thing it was an old pair!). My brother returned to California, but my nephews and sister-in-law remained in Utah a little longer. My dad and I hiked Mount Olympus, though we only went to the saddle and not the summit. It was pretty, but I didn't think it was a fun hike. It was hard.

I would often do my own run in the morning and then take my nephews hiking in the evening, especially Nathaniel (10).

June. I hit some new physical milestones. I ran up North Canyon, then down to Elephant Rock, then back down North Canyon, which was 12.8 miles round trip. The next day, I did the usual seven-mile run, then took two of my nephews up to Rudy's Flat, so I hit 35,000 steps that day.

Me with Nathaniel and Preston at Rudy's Flat.

I also would go running and find myself surrounded by swarms of butterflies.

July. We had a low-key Third and Fourth of July, since firework shows were cancelled. On July 5, we drove my nephews into Nevada, then their mom finished the drive into California, thus ending a three-and-a-half-month visit with them. It was a sad day. My parents bought a new trailer, and we had one final camping trip in the old one at Moosehorn Lake. Even though it was hot, I continued running up North Canyon most days. Unfortunately, I had several encounters with rattlesnakes, including some where I didn't see them until I was only two or three feet away. And I even saw one get run over by a Jeep, then slither off onto the side of the road.

This rattlesnake shortly got run over.

On Pioneer Day, I helped my dad work in my sister's basement, and in the evening we watched Bountiful fireworks from her driveway. My sister and niece took me on a spontaneous trip to Bear Lake the next week, but we didn't really get in the water. 

August. This is always a fun month, even during a pandemic. After a great ordeal, I got a new phone, since my old Motorola was literally falling apart. My family went to Moosehorn Lake again, this time with our new trailer. We also went to Bear Lake, this time better prepared to get in the water.

I began attending school via Zoom. I did lots of baking and cooking with plums and tomatoes. On the last day of the month, I ran to the top (well, almost) of the mountain above North Canyon, my first time doing so.

September. The month was off to a very hazy start, as smoke from California wildfires invaded the state. It was probably the smokiest I have ever seen, so I can't imagine what California was like. The smoke blew out when we had an insanely windy Tuesday, September 8. It knocked out our power for twelve hours, and we were one of the lucky ones. My grandparents in Centerville were without power for days, and some went even longer. Homework was hard at home that day, since data on my phone was very spotty. We had a couple of small scrub oak trees break, but our neighborhood had many massive trees fall over. I went up North Canyon the next day, and I couldn't even go all the way because I was sick of going past all the trees.

I had virtual class on my birthday, which was also the day of the first presidential debate, but I couldn't watch it because I had homework.

October. I had a dream that I made pineapple zucchini crisp, so then I made it in real life.

My family took our trailer to Wasatch Mountain State Park, which was beautiful. I was happy to wear my Biden/Harris t-shirt and submit my ballot. Of course, I consumed lots of pumpkin treats. On Halloween, we just set up a table by the sidewalk for trick-or-treaters, making for a very sad Halloween.

November. I was thrilled with the outcome of the presidential election! Trail running was hit or miss, but I was able to see this arch off the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

For Thanksgiving, we just had my sister and niece over for a quiet holiday. I kept working feverishly on homework and final assignments.

December. I was relieved when I submitted my final papers. I made it through my first semester of grad school! I tried to enjoy the Christmas season by decorating, watching Christmas shows, and buying a few gifts—but my spending was sparse, since I haven't worked since March. The universe gave us the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn.

So bright that even a phone camera can capture it glowing above the garage.

Christmas Day was small with my niece and sister, as well as a short, masked, socially distant visit to my grandparents. I got an inflatable paddleboard, which I can't use for six months; Easter dishes, which I can't use for three months; and folklore vinyl, which I can use now.

Wow, this post somehow took longer than I expected to write.

For 2021, I'm looking forward to a vaccine. I hope I can get one; I have several severe medical allergies, but I've never had problems with shots. 

I have also set a new goal to run on every street in North Salt Lake, and I hope to have it finished by the end of 2021. 

Here's to hoping for a happier 2021. It would be pretty hard to be any worse than 2020.