mapgirl’s year in review

Today it was 65 degrees and sunny. I sat on the deck and read magazines. I ignored my to-do list for the afternoon. How many 65-degree, sunny, vacation afternoons do you get? 

I put down the magazines after a while and just thought, marveled, really, over the past year. So many blessings in one 12-month space. This was not a year of significant change for me. I don’t think I met one new person in 2011. But it was one of the richest, deepest years in recent memory because of time spent with special people from throughout my entire life. I sat back and enjoyed the heck out of it. This past year had lots of sunny afternoons.

I think I covered most of the highlights in the Thanksgiving poem but how about a “Best of 2010” list to close out the year? Here goes:

Best of 2010 

Best brush with greatness:  Former President Jimmy Carter, September.  It was amazing to attend his Sunday School class in Plains, Ga., with 200 people from around the world. To see the town where he lived, to contemplate what he has chosen to contribute through his life, was a true inspiration.

Runner-up:  “Criminal Minds” actor Shemar Moore on our LAX to OAK flight during our San Fran vacation in April. He is impossibly beautiful.

Best trip: Tucson, Arizona in November to see CHM and MCC. We talked, surfed the Net, read, talked, took a walk with the dog, talked. They have an uncanny ability to know exactly what I want to do on a vacation  — and what I wanted to do was talk with them, be with them, learn from them. What a special time.

Runner-up:  All the other trips. I am not kidding. I was in 9 states and China this year. And each trip was worth it. (Still love Nashville best!)

Best reunion:  Chinese Kevin, in Beijing, May. My next-door neighbor in Belfast was a native Chinese who took the western name of Kevin … apparently to distinguish himself from all the other Kevins in Belfast!  He was a great neighbor, a riot, and very forthright in his wish to marry a Chinese woman and have a family. He repatriated in late 2008 and had accomplished all this by the time I saw him during a business trip to Beijing this May.  We had dinner and drinks with his lovely wife and throughout the night exclaimed to one another, “Can you believe we are here together! I am so happy!” 

Runner-up: 30-year grade school reunion.  I’ll let you in on a little secret: I was kind of dreading this one. But it reinforced my belief that I grew up with special people. I came away from the weekend noting that we all started our adult lives with a plan – and few of us were living that plan in 2010. Fact is, we were on Plan B or D or L and we were pretty glad about it. A very fulfilling time with great folks.

Best concert:  Jason and the Scorchers, Bloomington, IL, October. Take my word for it. Otherwise I’ll be writing all night.

Runner-up (tie) :  Marshall Crenshaw, Atlanta, September.  He was number 2 on my “must see” list for 2010 and he did not disappoint.     And Chatham County Line, Decatur, GA, August. Everything I love about bluegrass, but younger.

Best way to feel old: Attend the reunion of a woman you babysat 30 years ago. I did, and it was such a joyous weekend. She married a man deserving of her, in a place that was so authentically her. I almost burst with joy.  The strangest thing is, no one can remember how I came to be her babysitter when the family lived on Forrest Hill way back when. They were one of my favorite families because they were from Maine, where I longed to live. We kept in touch in the intervening years, through job changes and moves (theirs! Then mine!)  and the “save the date” e-mail was very special: “We really, really hope you will come to the wedding.”

Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. She got married in Maine the first weekend of July, and her entire family made me feel like a rock star with their sincere welcome. One of the most special moments for me was talking with her parents in their kitchen the morning after the wedding – how familiar that seemed. We walked out to the porch of their old white house, featuring an America flag, and waved to passing traffic on Main Street as we said our goodbyes. It was a classic New England Fourth of July tableau.

Runner-up: 30-year grade school reunion.

Best day, overall:  Friday 15 October, Peoria. Yes, it was that good, that I remember it as my favorite day of the year.

Runner-up:  Saturday 20 November, Nashville. My favorite people, places and things all in one day … and the start of a wonderful week there.

Best thing I read this year:  “A Crack in the Edge of the World,” Simon Winchester. This book about San Francisco at the time of the 1906 earthquake (and the geological forces that led to the quake) greatly enriched my visit there.  The book is 5 years old and I bought it at the Peoria Barnes & Noble years ago … finally got around to reading it!

Runner-up:  “The Worst Bathroom in New York,” Village Voice reporter Elizabeth Dwoskin's essay in the New York Times. A great reminder of why journalism is important – and a timely reminder to give thanks for the absolute luxury in which I and my loved ones live.

I would enjoy hearing your best-of-2010s! Feel free to leave them in the comments section.