Stop and Smell the Flowers

Two days left to 2017.  Two more days before the beginning of 2018, and a new Ultimate Blog Challenge.

There are so many "my year in review" posts, I thought I would write one today, too.

But, at first, I went blank.

At my age (65), the years pass by like a rapidly unwinding roll of toilet paper. Days run into weeks into months.  It seems like just yesterday that I was watching the Tournament of Roses parade on New Years Day 2017. Now, I have plowed through an entire calendar again.

So, I did what many moderns would do, to recapture my memories.

I turned to my camera roll.  And, before my eyes, I saw the year I discovered Virginia wine.  Only in Virginia can a bust of Thomas Jefferson coexist with a portrait of a cat and a wreath made from cork.

February snow angel asking "why do I live here?"

We got more snow after this picture

And then came March 14....winter storm Stella. (Erie, PA, we feel your pain.)

We live between Endwell and Binghamton

April, and it was time for the first spring flowers,

April crocus

then May brought the majesty of trees in full spring bloom.

May 1 cherry blossoms

Then, summer arrived with warmth and the green you would wish would last forever.

June Korean dogwood

And then I got to mid August, and an unforgettable trip.
I never blogged about the several days my husband and I spent with our adult son, traveling in separate cars (but together) from upstate New York to Columbia, South Carolina. It was the first vacation together we had in 11 years.
A lot happened in those few days we spent together, and it could be worth an entire week of blogging.  The last time we had vacationed together, he was in full teenagerhood.  Now, we were adults and (I hope he feels this way) friends.

I'll save that story for the Ultimate Blog Challenge, which starts Monday.

But it was amazing, the flood of memories those photos brought back.  The years may move quickly, but they still have the same amount of content.

Many "year in review" blogs concentrate on the writer and how she or he persevered through many challenges, and grew as a person.

Me?  I just want to stop and smell the flowers.