Really, without question, 2020 was the strangest year of my life.  So many things changed, so quickly.  So much I took for granted disappeared, maybe forever.

Words and phrases I'd never considered before became commonplace.

Covid-19.  Coronavirus.  Social distancing.  Quarantine.  Remote learning.  Essential workers.  Stay at home orders.  Takeout (food) only.  Masks.  Aerosols.  Disinfecting.  Plexiglass.  Hybrid school.  Touchless payment.  And on and on and on.

In short, 2020 flat out sucked in many - most, actually - ways.  That being said, I'll hold dear some enduring memories from the Year of the Pandemic.

• Family Olympics.  Uno, Cornhole, Trouble, Around the World (basketball), etc.  Results kept on the white board in the den.  Fierce competition b/w a fiercely competitive family.
• Basketball, across the street, at the Cox's house.  Many, many Around the World games with the winner getting the "Around the World Championship Belt."  Proudly worn by all of last one time or another last spring.
• Lots of family time, especially in March, April, and May, when the boys were remote learning and Jude and I were both working from home, for the most part.  It was kind of cool to finish a call with a client, then run across the street to shoot basketball with J.P. and Joe during "P.E." class.
• Deadliest Catch.  Jude and I used to watch it, back in the day, before the boys were born.  It was fun watching it with them.
• Morning coffee, from Portland Brew.  In the early months of the pandemic, I woke up and drove the three or four blocks to Portland Brew and arrived shortly after they opened at 7 a.m.  Got my coffee, then drove down to the commercial strip of shops at the end of 12th Avenue, almost to Sevier Park.  There was a high end ladies' accessory shop - I forget the name - that had a couple of comfortable patio chairs outside, in front of the shop.  I sat their every morning for 20 or 30 minutes, drank my coffee, and watched the world wake up.  Hal Humphreys met me a time or two and we sat, distanced, drank coffee, and talked quietly.  Very nice.
• Lots of running in the neighborhood, as I chased 1,000 miles for the year.
• Baseball, spring and fall.  Such great experiences for the boys, and for me.  Practices were so special, just to get out on the field with boys - mine and others - 8 and 12 year olds.  It made feel alive and, just a little bit normal.
• For me, a lot of reading.  Somehow, I read a ton and watched television a lot less.
• A slower pace.  That was nice, especially in the late spring, when I returned to working at the office.   Less traffic.  Less people trying to park.  Less people out and about.
• More people walking, running, and biking.  This part, I loved.  Especially in March, April, and May, there were tons of people - families - strolling the neighborhood.  That was cool, while it lasted.
• Lakers first, then Dodgers, winning world championships.  For us, a sports family, that (almost) made 2020 worthwhile.  Two titles for our two favorite teams.  Amazing.  Following the Lakers, and the Dodgers, really kept us going and brought so much excitement to our lives.  
• Multiple trips to Monteagle/Sewanee.  
• Book clubs with J.P. and Joe, reading Philip Pullman's "His Dark Matters" trilogy with J.P. and reading Hardy Boys books with Joe.  That was cool
• Running w/J.P.  I've written about that before but, for me, it doesn't get any better.
• For me, coffee at Honest Coffee Roasters most mornings before work.  The people that work there are my friends - almost my family - and stopping there each morning centers me, somehow.  HCR in the Factory in Franklin was a port in a storm for me, much as it was when my mom was at NHC Place and, later, when she died.  Damn, I miss her even now.

It's been a shitty year, period.  But, some things I will remember fondly.  

Goodbye 2020.  Here's to a return to normalcy in 2021.