2021 Christmas Letter
It’s a JibJab, the dreaded Christmas letter, and a Christmas song that I love.
First things first: https://www.jibjab.com/view/make/the-git-up-blanco-brown-christmas-starring-you-ecard/86407c74-8ffe-4ef0-8d88-1f14aab25552
In 3 days we head for Gulf Shores, AL. It’s our 6h late December trip to the beach, and once again friends will be meeting us there. Looking forward to 16 days of sunrises, sunsets, naps, and more.
2021 has been similar in many ways to last year: Masked up; Hunkered down.
Add in: vaccinated; boostered; some road trips and live music.
Once again the first weekend of June was a highlight of the year: Shady Acres Motel; Tom and Gloria; Steve and Claudia; 2 nights of music in the back yard at The Rock House…The Creek Rocks…The Lacewings. Plus The Shandies at Bear Creek.
That weekend would have been on the short list of highlights for ANY year.
For the second year in a row I was named King of Soul at the Wine Women & Shoes fundraiser. Thanks again to the 50 folks from 16 different states who helped me raise $6,238.08 for The Victim Center. It’ll be my last year hounding friends for $$…it was Shelly’s swan song at the V.C.
It was my first time taking advantage of QCDs (Qualified Charitable Distributions). There will lots of checks from my Fidelity account to 501(c)(3) organizations in the future.
Shelly has been taking some time off since then…but she is NOT retired. In 2022 she will be moving on to another venture.
We celebrated with our first long road trip of 2021. It began with seeing Dawes at the Ryman and visiting some dear friends in Nashville, then we were off to Hotlanta, Tampa, Siesta Key, and Panama City Beach. Great visits with a few friends and with both my kids and their partners.
There have been other music related road trips: to Pittsburg, KS twice; KC once; STL 3 times; and another weekend in Nashville for 2 shows by The Mavericks at The Ryman.
And then there was a weekend in CoMo for the Roots&Blues Festival.
In many ways 2021 bore a semblance of normalcy.
But we still mask up when we go out, and I shake my head at the anti-vaxxers and the apologists for what happened on January 6. Lunacy, willful ignorance and apathy are deadly pandemics.
Here’s a repeat from last year:
I hope to do a better job of living “The Jimmy Valvano Three” each and every day of 2022.
“To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think — spend some time time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that’s a heck of a day.”
Indeed.
Oh, yeah….here’s the song. I certainly have all the gifts I need: friends, music, a partner who loves me, health, and more money than time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opktLUqP2Ek
I hope our paths cross or that I hear your voice in 2022.
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Take care. Keep in touch. Enjoy every sandwich.
Be.
Steve