2013 Comes to a close...

In a number of ways 2013 was a lousy year...  The weather was particularly bad, for most of the year.  Back in January and February we had a lot of snow, and it was quite cold.  Spring eventually arrived, but it seemed as though summer never did.  It was cool and rained a lot through May, June and July.  Finally in August we got some better weather, but by then the days were already getting noticeably shorter.  Fall was pretty mild and dry and that was really the only sustained stretch of good weather we had all year.  Winter arrived at around the usual time, in early November, but it has been mostly very cold and again we have a lot of snow.  Even though it has officially only been winter for less than two weeks, it feels as though it has been dragging on for months already.  I sure hope that we have better weather next year.

We lost my Dad in 2013...  We actually began losing him a long time ago as Alzheimer's continually and consistently kept taking away his personality and his abilities.  We lost him for good in the early fall and not a day goes by that I don't think of him.  He lived a pretty long and full life and managed to do a lot of things before the disease eventually took over.  I think he lives on in all of us, as we are all impacted by his influences, his teaching and the upbringing that he gave to my brothers and I.  Lots of great memories...

There were some good things in 2013 and I don't want to sound totally pessimistic.  We bought a new and larger trailer and despite all the warranty issues with it, we did get out camping quite a bit this year.  We had several opportunities to get out with relatives and friends.  My cousin Roswitha, from Germany, and her family came to visit us Canada this year and we spent quite a bit of time with them.  Margarit and I had a chance to get out to Vancouver Island for a couples weekend back in the spring.  I had a chance to get down to Utah on a photo trip with some friends back in the fall.  And, now we are enjoying the festive season as a family, despite the ongoing crappy weather.

All the same, I really hope that the upcoming year is an improvement over this year just passed...