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My goodness! It doesn’t feel like that long ago I was wishing everyone happy howlidays in 2023. And now, here we are on Christmas Eve, 2024. What a year it’s been!

This year had more ups and downs than The Comet rollercoaster at Hersheypark, which is an ironic metaphor for me to use because I gave up rollercoasters years ago, thanks to nausea and vertigo. I keep thinking there will be a perfect time to rest and reflect on everything that’s happened, but there will never be a perfect time. Instead, there’s now. It’s not perfect, and my brain is frazzled from finalizing grades for nearly 350 students. But here’s where I am, and here’s what I know.

In 2024, all I wanted was my own bed, a home, and a Heath. Well, I got everything on my list — and guess what? Nothing has truly changed that much in my life. Oh, sure, the circumstances have changed, but who I am at my core is still fundamentally the same. What makes me happiest, including the simple joys of life, like Heath’s sharpest smile when he’s thoroughly amused by something, the lick on my cheek by a dog, or the excitement of diving into a new book, are all still the same. And the things that infuriate me, such as overconsumption, waste, and injustice, haven’t gone anywhere.

This realization makes me think there’s some profound truth out there, similar to the profound truth I realized recently that acceptance may need to be how I approach sleep because of what else is there? But what precisely this truth is remains elusive as I contemplate my life as we approach 2025.

In the meantime, I offer you a very Merry Colorado Christmas and Warm Waneka wishes. I’ll see you all next year! (I’ll never get tired of that end-of-December joke).

For those who need a reminder, Waneka Lake is the lake right by our new home.