I wouldn’t say 2024 was the best year ever for me … it was filled with ups and downs to be honest and began on a sour note as I HAD intended to retire on December 31, 2023, but reluctantly agreed to stay another three months.
The wacky weather was another thorn in my side.
The weather at the onset of 2024 was wacky and wild, wherein two full weeks passed without walking, with me only venturing outside to run the car. That short walk was accomplished precariously as freezing rain and bitter cold had created a skating rink that even my ice-melting product could not dissolve. Of course I worried about my furry and feathered friends at the Park, but I also worried about a slip and fall for me, so when I finally got back to the Park, while it was impossible to count snoots and beaks, I was satisfied everyone was present and accounted for as they rushed toward me when I started on the perimeter path. Perhaps it was my smiling face, but most likely the smell of peanuts perked up their nostrils.
Come Spring we had many days of rain, torrential rain. Then the heat and humidity settled in. Ugh!
Then there was July 22nd, the hottest day recorded on Earth and smack dab in the middle of the Dog Days of Summer. Everyone was sweating that day!
This weather worrier often stewed over the stormy nights that accompanied those sultry temps. Sigh!
Our warmish Winter of 2023-2024 meant the mosquitoes and ticks didn’t die off, so we contended with those pests too!
We had a warm Fall right into November which allowed me to recoup those two weeks sans walking and some days when it was so stinking hot and humid that I didn’t step out for as long. When I got to the last 100 miles/160 kilometers, the weather got a little erratic as you see below.
Council Point Park: Paradise lost in one fell swoop.
Any minor personal disappointments were surpassed by the destruction of Council Point Park, my favorite walking venue. Here it is pictured in all seasons at the beginning of the perimeter path before “The Project”. (Note the trees along the Ecorse Creek shoreline on the left-hand side of each photo.)
To anyone who cared to listen and in my blog I bemoaned the destruction of my favorite nature nook as I have enjoyed walking there since discovering it in 2013. On May 8th, multiple earth-moving machines wreaked havoc along the entire Ecorse Creek, destroying the habitats of squirrels, songbirds and waterfowl along the shoreline, while in nesting season no less, as well as unearthing turtles as they sunned themselves on fallen logs and paddled lazily in the Creek, sending those poor creatures airborne.
The following day, upon seeing the cringeworthy destruction, my eyes filled with tears for “Paradise Lost” and for the critters, their “homes” in trees that were now haphazardly horizontal, birds with offspring still in the nests, or squirrels that were now skittish, terrified of the loud machines and grieving the loss of their offspring, similarly in the nests. One woman walker told me she saw a female squirrel, heart beating frantically, making many trips from a fallen tree, each time carrying a different dead offspring in her teeth. I’m grateful I didn’t witness that. I have written about the destruction twice, here and here.
This continues to hurt my heart.
I wish I could say it looks better now, seven months later, but I can’t. Kelly Rose, a woman who is involved with the Friends of the Detroit River, is an advocate of saving the Ecorse Creek and organizing clean-ups and assured me in our back-and-forth messages that native plants will be planted along the Ecorse Creek shoreline. To me, that will never replace the ambiance, large trees and critters’ habitats, nor offspring lost when the destruction began.
However, I now wonder about the promise of those native plants because a few weeks ago, I was walking at the Park when a landscaping crew was working along the shoreline. I watched them for a long time as they spread a teal substance which resembled lawn patch. After the patch was applied on both sides of the Creek, a machine shredded up bales of straw, which spewed out layers to cover that lawn patch. “Hmm – this doesn’t look like native plants to me” I mused to myself.
So, when the machinery motors were silent, I strolled over to inquire about the job and was told “it’s just grass patch ma’am – there will hopefully be grass come Spring” but he knew nothing about native plants that were to be planted on the shoreline areas.
As you see in this slideshow below, the stumps have been leveled to the ground (somewhat), brush and weeds removed, but the ugliness remains. These photos were taken about a week apart, before and after the lawn patch and straw were applied. Also, a few days ago the City finally installed a new park bench to replace the one the machinery mangled. It overlooks what used to be “The Point” a very picturesque area of the Park.
In early Fall the poor squirrels buried their peanuts for lean times, only to have them unearthed once again. No wonder some of them are still skittish and wary at times.
The water level is extremely low in the Creek now and it is rare to see a duck in the water these days. In recent months, we’ve had deer sightings on the other side of the Creek and there have been coyotes that have crossed over to the Park, wading through the water, not walking on ice … of course, this is not great news for the furry and/or feathered critters that make Council Point Park their home.
A ray of sunshine ….
But, amidst the negativity above, there was one small glimmer of hope I experienced on my Christmas Day visit.
I have seen this tiny fir tree there for the past few years and I really never gave it much thought as the City planted many deciduous tree saplings around the same time. I took this photo intending to include it with my Christmas post.
But about two weeks ago I showed up one morning, without my camera, to find this tiny tree sporting one red bulb, à la the infamous Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The next day I took my camera, half-expecting to see the bulb smashed on the ground, or gone.
Surprising, it was still there, so I took this photo to use along with the squirrels for my Christmas Day post instead of the original photo.
To my surprise, on my Christmas Day walk, a male walker, whom I only run into sporadically, pointed out how festive “his” tree looked. Of course Your Roving Reporter had to dig into that whole story and I learned that he had one of those small Christmas trees in a pot at home. It was getting big, so two years ago he and a buddy planted the tree along the perimeter path. (Luckily they didn’t plant it on the opposite side.) The tree “took” and is thriving, several feet tall now and he decided to bring one red bulb and place it on the tree. Well it brightened my spirits after seven months of looking at the remnants of what had once been a beautiful venue.
Now on to a few more positive notes about my year and yes, I realize this post will be very long, so I will be doing my favorite pics of 2024 post next week.
For the 13th straight year, I met my walking goal!
Aptly, I put a bow on my 2024 walking goal (1,257 miles/2,024 kilometers) on Christmas Day. I had five more miles left and with the threat of multiple days of rain and/or fog looming, I figured I’d better just get ‘er done. I waited until mid-day when I knew there would be no slick spots and ventured out. Yay! You know the drill – for 2025, it will be one more mile (1,258 miles/2,025 kilometers).
However, unlike the gingerbread girl pictured above, I was not hampered by snow in the waning days of 2024 as to my mileage goal. In fact, yesterday we enjoyed balmy weather: 58F/14C, some 24 degrees above normal. Not exactly Winter weather, but I’ll take it!
So, onward and upward for 2025!
Even my 15-year-old car got a workout as I put a whopping 1,545 miles on it in 2024. I know fellow bloggers Ruth and JP will be patting me on the back for sure with those stats! 🙂
Retirement is bliss; I rather like being a lady of leisure.
Nine months ago today I retired … Good Friday, 2024.
I was 67 years old … two weeks before I would turn 68 and what better incentive to just do it after reading this earlier in the year?
So, post-retirement … have I been productive, or was I a slacker? Well … ahem, if we are discussing walking miles, I did well and, if we are discussing blog post productivity, I churned out 106 posts. I can’t fathom how many photos I took – whew! Great Linda, those are fun things to do, but, if only everything else I planned (in my head) would have wrapped up so nicely by year-end, I’d have been thrilled.
WordPress decided Windows 7 was passé …
Well, thank you for doing that WP and, when I could no longer create a post without it freezing every few sentences, it was time to upgrade, something I had avoided doing for many years. Windows 7 was comfortable, like my walking shoes and it must be a sign of getting older, resisting change and all. So the upgrade was a pain and cut into my DAILY TO DO CHART but it got done … I had no choice.
Accomplishments and/or new ventures.
By the end of September, I took stock of my accomplishments in the six months post-retirement and my brow furrowed a little. Sure I had walked my socks off and taken a slew of photos but I had not accomplished a heck of a lot otherwise, despite my good intentions.
As to walking, sometimes it didn’t really feel much like anything was different, except having the ability to go on longer excursions at bigger parks on weekdays. I continued rising at the crack of dawn, still heading out as soon as it was light to enjoy the coolest part of the day, so old habits never died in that respect.
Then, along came September and the advent of Fall. All of a sudden the sun was rising later and later and a little bell went off in my head when I realized I no longer had to scramble to get my miles walked and hurry home to get ready for work … I could leave later and still get a long walk in.
It was finally time to shake off that mindset and embrace retirement – right?
But Linda – what about all the lists of things you wanted to accomplish?
Since I announced my retirement in my Easter post, a few of you have told me “you have all the time in the world – relax” or they suggested that “the retirement agenda and things you wanted to accomplish will eventually fall into place – you just need to find your groove.”
I took all those recommendations to heart – really I did. But, um, six months later and all I had accomplished was finding five new venues to visit, walk and take photos of. And I had done a lot of walking down the beaten path (and along that *&^# beaten path I had a tick hitch a ride on my ear – grrr).
But, did I get my house decluttered of work clothes and accessories I won’t be wearing in this retirement phase of my life? Well I half-heartedly embarked on that project and, after initially digging my heels into that task I proudly carried ten or more bags of garbage to the curb. Then I had to curtail that venture since the City switched garbage collection companies on July 1st and it took them about six weeks to get themselves together, sometimes not showing up for several weeks at a time So, I tabled that project to the new year now. in the depths of Winter to tackle it in earnest. Fitting household projects around walking, photography, blogging, reading and other hobbies, it seems housework takes a back seat.
Hobbies you say? What hobbies?
As September drew to a close, I sat nursing my coffee after returning home from a five-mile jaunt and took stock of stuff … “stuff” being my life.
What happened to all the retirement resolutions about hobbies I made? They were in the cloud, the cloud being in my head as I didn’t write down any lists. I had hobbies I wanted to pursue … taking some art classes, learning a language, reading more – had I accomplished any of these things? No!!
Procrastinate much?? I admit I am critical of myself most days.
So, in October I began dipping my toe in the water …
One item on my Retirement Bucket List was to learn how to sketch and paint, the latter so I may eventually join a plein air painting group when they have “paint-outs” where they gather at various large parks that I frequent and paint the landscape. I’ve written about the group in the past and I am in their Facebook group so I see where they go and what they paint. After meeting them the first time I took a free watercolor painting class down along the Detroit River at Dingell Park, went home, ordered lots of art supplies from Amazon and everything is packed in a box awaiting me to be inspired and begin.
So I signed up for a watercolor class taught by a local artist who is also a high school art teacher and on October 9th, off I went to learn how to paint still life pumpkins and I produced this painting which will never hang in the National Gallery of Art or The Louvre, but it was fun.
In fact, I intended to book myself for a second class but could not as the venue lost internet/phone/power so when that fizzled and died, I took an online watercolor tutorial instead. It will be a while until I’ve got the chops to join the group … practice makes perfect, right?
I resolved to study French and began doing so online after a 46-year absence from speaking or writing it. French was mandatory in Canada, so I took it from age five to ten and resumed throughout my college years; in fact, the last two years of our advanced French class we were not permitted to speak English. I thought I’d have an advantage, but other than remembering numbers and simple words like dog, cat and cow, it’s been intense with lots of grammar and loads of vocabulary words (750 to date) and verb conjugations (ugh) – today is Day #66. Brain strain for sure!
In the last quarter of the year, I started and finished four books before year-end and hope to become the avid reader I once was.
After wavering back and forth about the backyard perimeter gardens destroyed by the downed wire fire in December 2022 and the last Polar Vortex, every time I went into the backyard, I wavered on simply laying down sod versus a new butterfly garden. I had the back garden debris and tree stumps removed, new retainer walls put in and mulch laid down. As of now, I’m hoping to start a perennial garden come Spring; my only concern is if we have another extraordinarily hot Summer … or, for that matter, erratic weather going forward. It is a lot of work – do I want to dedicate that much time to it? I have awhile to ponder over it at any rate.
I guess if I had to pick a word for 2025, it would be this one … soon I will begin the 2025 version of tallying up my steps and I hope they continue to be long and leisurely walks, the best kind.
Your New Year’s greeting from me will arrive in this week’s Wordless Wednesday.
I am joining Terri’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge this week and next: “Your 2024 Year-in-Review!” (in photos)
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Well that doesn’t sound like a bad year at all Linda. I love the story about the Charlie Brown Christmas tree and how ironic the gentleman was there as you were admiring it. The water edge will look better as the plant life comes back in 2025 and, as you meet your new plus 1 mile goal, you will have a soodle good time!
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, I guess not Diane … I was thinking the weather had a big impact and a few other things, but in the end it worked out. I love that word “soodle” – I follow the Word Warriors and saw that and decided to make it my 2025 word. I never walk fast at any of the parks anyway – if I walked fast I’d probably be done with my goal a lot earlier, that’s for sure. 🙂 I hope you are right about the edge of the Park. It looks horrible now. Yesterday a big hawk was cruising overhead and the other day a woman in Wyandotte, not far from the Park, on the residential side of the Creek, had two coyotes grab and maul her dog in the backyard. We’ve got a lot of coyotes and deer as they are messing with their habitat. Last week a buck was running around Heritage Park. I wish I’d seen that! I was lucky to see this gentleman as he walks later than I do – I was late due to avoiding the black ice. I am really late here tonight – unusual for me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My brother lives in Indiana and he has dogs. Where he lives, it has been developed and there are a family of fox that come up on his deck and in his back yard. You are spot on with how we are messing with their habitat! How devastating it must have been for the owner of the dog to see that, not very pleasant for the dog either!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s an incredible story about the fox family Diane. And I think they are usually pretty shy so they must feel safe being on your brother’s deck and in his backyard. Jill Wellington, the photographer I follow on FB and have mentioned her to you before with her fancy Oreos, she lives in a rural area and a family of fox moved into an old shed next to where she lives. She was afraid to get too close to them with her own camera so she rented a very large telephoto lens to take photos from her house to not disturb them. She got the cutest pictures of the kits playing. In the video she said that she had a new and larger dog who was out back with the smaller dog so I’m surprised the two coyotes didn’t have any qualms about attacking two dogs. The larger dog escaped with no injury … a horrible thing to witness your pet being mauled.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m thinking you should add another hour of blogging to your schedule, Linda, my my, what a post. But I read it all and walked alongside you, cried with you at the demise of the animals’ habitats and cheered as you accomplished the beginnings of relearning French. Despite the crazy weather you got a lot done and even retired. The painting classes sound fun, too. I’m amazed at the walking mileage you put in each day/year. You reminded me that I rejoined the gym this fall after a 4 year absence, which is noteworthy. I’m excited to start French, but I won’t have anyone to speak it with.
Wishing you a happy end to 2024. I might actually go see a movie on NY day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Terri – I have to reconfigure my “day chart” (which I tried to do as a pie chart in Google Sheets but was unsuccessful at that). That was my chart when I had to abandon Windows 7 … now I am adding about 60 minutes for French, (sometimes 90 minutes when we have a ton of new words as I go through and add them to my own vocabulary list and add the gender too!) At 10:00 p.m. I went to Duolingo to see if I made it to “Diamond” because I was #1 in Obsidian and yes I did, but it said “start a lesson to get on the leaderboard for this week, so I thought “okay, why not” (even though I was there once already this morning for awhile). So I did six lessons with the new vocabulary from this morning – whew! I thought I was done and clicked what I thought was my “personal practice set” – it was a new lesson. I stayed in it and I am at 470 already. I will be dreaming French things in my sleep. We learned to tell time and I know it is late! I don’t have anyone to speak it with either, but I found a site awhile ago with short stories, but I wasn’t ready for it yet – maybe when I learn more words. And you speak to me every so often. 🙂
I am so upset about the Park and they continue to mutilate it over and over again. They could have cleared everything away in early May and planted native plants then. It is an ugly mess and the low water level means very few waterfowl – we’ll never see swans again. The poor creatures have suffered – it is more than just the ambiance. Only a fellow nature lover understands the loss – you do.
I was happy to make my mileage goal and I always worry by Thanksgiving if the weather turns bad and I won’t make it. One year I walked to a nearby park and walked circles in the park and a nearby parking lot to get ‘er done! Happy New Year to you too Terri. It has been years since I saw a movie in the show!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wrap-up! Marvelous!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Anne! (Believe it or not, it was even longer, but I cut out a few paragraphs.) Soon, on to 2025 – wonder what that year has in store?
LikeLiked by 2 people
I found your DAILY TO DO CHART fascinating. I wonder what mine would look like if I went to the trouble of thinking it through and writing it all down. Hats off to you for writing and summarizing this thorough record of your remarkable year of changes. I love the little gingerbread woman in the peaceful, snowy scene — she looks so content. And that darling little fir tree by the creek — I hope you will keep posting pictures of it as it grows. I hope it will thrive there. Good luck with your French lessons and painting classes. Wishiing you a Happy & Healthy New Year, my friend! 🎊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you liked this post Barbara – it was fun to compile it and I had saved a few weather clips during the year since weather played an important role in walking (and for me in general, the weather worrier). I tried to do a pie chart but couldn’t figure out how to do it, but this chart worked and it may become an annual, tweaked entry in my year-end recap post, like the Birdie Bucket List. That chart was before any art or French came onto the scene and I’ve decided for the next three months, no art anything until I apply myself and get this decluttering done. Then art before it is Springtime weather and time to venture out to big parks again. The French classes have been fun, but difficult, in my opinion and with the memorization of new words/phrases, I feel like I am in school again, but it is good for the brain at any rate.
In my Easter post which focused on retirement I used artwork from Rebecca Green’s Etsy site and while on there I spied the gingerbread girl, so I bought that image too intending to use it at year-end (kind of assuming we might have some snow). How lucky to find a gingerbread girl walking. I am wishing you and Tim a healthy and happy new year as well and may there be many birding and nature adventures for us down the road my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You managed to cram quite a lot into your year, especially considering that you didn’t retire until 25% of the way through. And congrats on the high miles on your car! Our new car still has a little over 2k on it, but we took a trip into northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.
I’m looking forward to hearing what will happen in 2025!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess that’s true JP, but I kept thinking I should have held myself accountable for accomplishing more non-fun stuff, so 2025 will be the year for that. I knew my big mileage stats would give you a smile … my current mileage is 13,376 for a 15-year-old car … maybe I’ll shoot for the moon and get to 15,000 by the end of 2025? It would take me awhile to rack up 2,000 miles like you have. I hope to cultivate the art studies more in 2025 and who knows where the French will take me? A fellow blogger has just completed Year #5 of learning German, as has her husband, so on New Year’s Day she is going to begin to study French … so we’ll be able to toss a few phrases back and forth to each other.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you had a great year. The wonderful thing about retirement is that goals are suggestions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Kate! One thing I have found in these nine months is that time seems to fly by way too fast. Workdays did not fly by the last few years, whereas weekends were way too short, but now I return from walking and a few glances at the clock and its nightfall already! I don’t want that to happen for days, weeks nor years. I keep beating myself up over not getting rid of all these things and making room for these hobbies, like having an art room, so that will happen over the next three months, so come Spring, it will be the new beginning that should have been in 2024.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know! People (working people) always ask me what I do with ALL MY TIME. I don’t have enough time in a day and I don’t eat bonbons on the sofa! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder how we got it all done when we worked full time? I often think about that and even when I worked from home, I still got more done. I still get up early (as do you), but I used to be out the door much earlier, dressed, makeup/hair done … I am not as streamlined now, with less face/hair maintenance and still I don’t have enough time in the day to get things done. The days zip by so quickly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m happy we were able to share 2024 through our blogs, Linda. Looking forward to another year. Cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes Ruth, I’ve enjoyed getting to know you through our blogs and I likewise look forward to the new year too. Cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great wrap-up! Retirement is never exactly the way we envision it will be… and that’s okay. Just remember: housework should ALWAYS take a backseat.
Best wishes for a wonderful 2025!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Janis – I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. I agree with you and I have learned just that in the last nine months. I have to reconfigure my chart of how to spend my days and factor in some yoga which I’ve wanted to do for several years, because despite walking all these miles, I am not limber, so yoga is needed … French is fun but taking more time than I thought it would, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. Decluttering and housework are best done in the depths of Winter and not when it is a beautiful day. Best wishes to you as well for a happy and healthy 2025!
LikeLike
I feel bad about that Mama squirrel and her little dead babies, how upsetting for her. I hate when cities/municipalities just decide to “renovate” green spaces. I feel lilke we should have more and leave the trees alone. I hate seeing trees cut down. Congratulations on your walking goals and your retirement! I love retirement, but it goes so fast. That’s a good idea to take classes. I still take the odd class, I took a felting class and a class on how to make soap recently and enjoyed them both. I do painting at home but I’m not a great artist for sure! But I enjoy doing all sorts of crafts. We are de-cluttering our home too, why did we buy so many useless items? lol All the best for the New Year Linda !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Susan, I felt badly for the Mama squirrel and her dead babies and I’m glad I didn’t witness it. As a person who has walked here since 2013, I saw not only the ambiance destroyed with this horrible destruction, but the demeanor of its feathered and furry inhabitants as well. Initially, they were timid, even of me, who they surely know would never harm them, which made me feel badly. I always get to the end of November and think “I hope we don’t get a lot of snow and I don’t make my goal this year” but who knew we’d have such a mild Fall/early Winter? We only had one very slippery day thus far. I feel the same way about time slipping by. While working, workdays went by slowly and weekends flew by. Now it seems every day flies by – before I know it, it is nightfall. I hate that! I did a lot of crafts when younger, but they, like reading, all seemed to get left behind due to work. It’s time to begin anew and painting is how you interpret it … all the painters in the plein air group interpret the same scene differently. It is interesting to see this. Without formal art training, I guess we’re just doing our own thing. A fellow blogger is on a blogging break, but her mom was in her 80s when she began painting, using acrylics, after watching Bob Ross and his painting show on TV. She did folk art and had an exhibit a few years ago. In a small house, space is at a premium and I also wonder about when exactly clutter stopped being contained?! Best to you both in the new year as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Bob Ross! I did a lot of folk art pieces but have switched to canvas. I’m not good lol but I enjoy it. Our weather is like spring. Rained all day today and the snow is all gone. Hoping tomorrow is nice as I haven’t walked for two days because of rain
LikeLiked by 1 person
I watched some of his videos after participating in the “Run for the Trees” event as it is done in conjunction with the Bob Ross Foundation – he made those landscape paintings look so easy. It is “snaining” here right now and we are likely having a big snowfall on Monday. Too bad, I liked the balmy and ice-and-snow-free weather much better.
I’ve been meaning to ask you before, have you and Clint ever taken a combo barge and bike trip of any kind? A fellow blogger and her husband just returned from such a vacation where they went from Paris to Bruge (in Brussels) and they slept/ate on the barge (although they often preferred to do their own thing as to food if out and about) and the bikes were provided to them (traditional or e-bikes) from the barge. They had a wonderful time and had done a similar trip before with different venues where they biked and rode trains in Europe. If you’d like I’ll send you her posts (she did a part one and two) to read up on it. I had never heard of this way to travel but it sounded fun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I have heard of those trips. I follow some on instagram. We probably wouldn’t do a trip like that but they do look fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They do look fun! You are so adventurous already – how can you top that?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m astonished the city got away with destroying habitat of nesting birds. This is against federal law. How horrible. What is wrong with some people who think that’s okay?!
But, as for your year, Linda, I think it’s great you’ve retired and started thinking about what matters to you in the coming days, months, and years. Try lots of things and see what sticks. Obviously the walking, photography and blogging have stuck. See what else you want to squeeze in, or just do more of those three.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My e-mails to the City got me nowhere Eilene, just a response that “the animals will be fine” … no mention of the birds. We have a new Mayor now, but likely she, like he, will blame the County because it is a County project. But, for whatever planning committees they had, zero thought was given to the habitats of birds and squirrels at this Park and yes, not even the federal treaty enacted by President Roosevelt made them stop and think. Surely someone knew early May was nesting season before wreaking havoc here. It boils my blood!
As for hobbies, I once considered gardening a hobby, but that was before my walking regimen which I began in 2011 and blogging which I began in 2013 along with a renewed interest in photography in 2015. I’m still on the fence as to the gardening as I know how much work is involved, but a perennial garden, once established should not be high maintenance. The erratic weather is my biggest worry as I lost a large portion of my long-established butterfly garden (planted in 1985), some 30 years later to a Polar Vortex. They changed the planting zones a few years ago. I do aim to make the most of retirement, having worked since I was 17 years old! I will ponder the garden over the Winter. It has been cleared of any debris from the two downed wire fires, two tree stumps from trees that were hacked up as a result of the fire. If it is just mulch and retention bricks in the yard, maybe a few annuals to attract butterflies (scarce now), I would be okay with that too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really enjoyed reading about all that you’ve accomplished during your 1st year of retirement. It’s hard to imagine exactly what post-retirement life will look like. I guess we’ll find out one day at a time. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Rebecca. It seems to me like this year has gone by very quickly. The days go by so quickly where before the workdays dragged on and I didn’t start work until late morning. You’ll have to tell me if it seems like life is speeding by for you two once you find “your retirement groove”.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You should do some Gorilla tree planting too Linda! Something that would protect your friends once grown fully!
I liked that picture of a bike hauling a small trailer! I’ve always wanted to do that…..but it would be with an electric. I no longer am that young.
I like your watercolour! Promising work!
25 will be a good year for you…..but maybe not for weather?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that the guy and his buddy went and planted the tree Wayne – I just thought the City planted it as they planted so many others at that time. The critters need more trees since so many of theirs are gone now. They had a nice spruce tree and cut it down. One year my mom and I strung plain popcorn, raising and cranberries on trees and bushes in the backyard for the birds and put out peanut butter sandwiches for the squirrels. The birds never touched their goodies and the squirrels licked the peanut butter off and threw the bread around the yard. We used that party bread you buy for the holidays, just small squares. We thought we were giving them a treat, so I ended up running around the yard to pick up all the cast-off bread slices. 🙂
I have seen ads for those small trailers and I think they are small pop-up campers aren’t they? You would need to have an e-bike … they look like they’d be heavy to haul. There is a guy at the Park who has an e-bike. It has very wide tires … that would work well for you I’d think.
Thank you – I took an online class a couple of weeks ago too, but it was too late to do the Christmas scene for Christmas, so I’ll do it next year instead.
I hope 2025 is good for me and you too. I hope the weather is not too crazy … it is worrisome to me as you know and it is what holds me back on whether to do the butterfly garden that I want to do. Will it be too hot and I spend a ton of time (and money) to keep it maintained. This was such a hot and humid Summer. I have all Winter to ponder over it.
LikeLike
Fussy birds!
You keep doing your French lessons, painting and photography and 25 will be a banner year for you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope so Wayne – I don’t want to spread myself too thin, but I look forward to accomplishing some fun things that I always wanted to do and enjoy them after working for one-half century!
LikeLiked by 1 person
the sky is the limit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m starting to waver a little on the garden to be honest as I feel it might cut too much into my hobby time. I have all Winter to dwell on it though. I had thought it would be fun to have the garden like I once had but that’s been almost 15 years and I’ve thought about that a lot the last few days with this brutal weather – this the third bout of extreme cold we have had in the month and it’s not even the heart of Winter. We had such a stinking hot Summer last year. Why not use the silk flowers I always used in the front/side and my hummingbird feeders and be done with it? The backyard has had all the debris from the fire removed, mulch laid, retainer walls put up … at least if I walk into the backyard, I scan it for critters and it’s open to see everything. I think I’d rather concentrate more on walks/photography/drawing and painting … less work. Climate change worries me a lot. My squirrels and birds were back today – I wish I’d taken the camera to the Park but it was windchills in the single digits and I didn’t want to take the camera out in that. But the sun was out – yay for that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe just go visit your friends butterfly garden when you need a fix
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that is a good idea Wayne. The weather is just too erratic anymore. Tonight and for the next 10 days we are having this brutally cold weather … it is a “real feel” of 3F right now. It’s been like this for almost a week now, but at least we didn’t get battered by snow like many states. I sure am feeling badly for my furry and feathered friends. I didn’t get there today as we had freezing rain this morning and mid-day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All that extra bulk will help them get through the frigid winter ahead!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They’ll be glad for it these days … another brutally cold morning tomorrow. Someone asked “is this a Polar Vortex?” The answer was “nope, maybe later in the month, with snow.” I didn’t think it was Polar Vortex weather … that’s more the below-zero temps. Poor critters.
LikeLiked by 1 person
my physics teacher once told me coldness is defined by the lack of heat!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha – you are smart to have remembered that all these years later … and I mean “all these years later” tongue in cheek because we are the same age!
LikeLiked by 1 person
All the best Linda for 2025. Great post of your year the ups and downs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Andy – I am glad you enjoyed it. I hope that in the new year I can settle into a better routine and get more done. Best to you as well in 2024!
LikeLiked by 1 person
thank you Linda
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy New Year! Here’s to new adventures.🥂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, back at you Linda. I’m always up for new adventures and I think you are as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a shame about the park, but the Christmas tree story was a ray of light, for sure. Congratulations on meeting your walking goals! That’s an amazing accomplishment. Retirement should be enjoyable, so no need to stress about things undone. Do what you want when you want. That’s the beauty of it. 🙂 And good luck with the French lessons. I got bored, but may go back one of these days. “Soodle” is a fun new (to me) word. Perfect choice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still sick about the destruction at this Park Debbie. It was peaceful to walk there but not now. It looks horrible with all the trees gone on the shoreline. The stumps they’ve just left as they were too big to remove and I purposely used the photo with the cement ledge with the graffiti. This City celebrates its centennial this year and what was the jewel of the City is no more. The little tree and its one bulb gave a ray of light to this Park, but now more people have decorated it … two blue bulbs and two shiny red bows. Sometimes less is more and I thought it was better with the one bulb. I’ll step down off my soapbox now and thank you for the congrats on my walking goals. I knew some bad weather was coming, so I pushed myself to get it done, then in the end we didn’t get that bad weather that was predicted so I ended up walking more but I don’t count the overages. I told myself I’d start my decluttering project on Monday – I look around me and just shake my head with my disorganization. French is difficult and I thought it was easier when I was in school and the last two years our professor (same one both years) did not allow English to be spoken in the class. I am surprised I don’t remember more but that was 46 years ago. You speak fluent German already – that is good. I was doing this to keep my brain humming and to see if I could capture that joy of reading and speaking French … it may not happen as to speaking. I’ve mastered the word “Berlin” but now “il a un an” (he is one year old) trips me up – every word sounds the same!! I love that word “soodle” and I tucked it away for year-end as soon as I saw it. I’ve subscribed to their odd words on FB for years and they have the most-unusual and fun words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s terrible to destroy the park like that! What was the reason behind it? BTW, I forgot to mention your lovely pumpkin watercolour. I hope you get to take more classes, since you’re good at this! 👌 If French is too frustrating, maybe try a different language? I found it all came back to me but Italian is much harder than I anticipated. I’m exposed to it on an almost daily basis (hubby watches soccer games and news from Italy and speaks to his buddies in their native tongue) and thought it was similar to French. Hardly! 😲 I’m going to look for that Facebook Word Warriors page. Always good to improve one’s English vocabulary as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Debbie, as to Council Point Park, they were supposed to be improving the water flow of the Ecorse Creek and it is a project that goes through many communities in the area. They started at this portion of the Creek first, but a lot of the areas where the Ecorse Creek flows is nothing, just a small Creek and land. It is a County project, so according to our mayor (now former mayor from the November election), we had to be part of it … maybe so, but you could have taken some action to ensure it could begin to be restored to some semblance of its former ambiance, though I think it it is too late for that. And, people’s basements in the area are still flooding – so it served no purpose.
Thank you – I liked the still life and also the online watercolor class I took at Michaels and I was hoping to use that Michaels painting for my year-end post. I watched the video class but didn’t paint along, plus they had a different picture than the class was supposed to be – nothing like the picture. They were supposed to post the video a few days later and didn’t. I still would like to do the painting though – it was a little New York City storefront decorated for Christmas. I have books I bought on how to draw, mostly nature scenes or critters. That might be easier. There’s a ton of tutorials on YouTube for watercolor painting
I am going to stick to French even though I do sometimes find it difficult, the reading and writing not so much as the speaking and they speak so fast and you can’t always slow it down. I have had instances where the bear character is speaking so fast and you have to type the translation that I don’t know what he said. At least you can speak to your husband so that will help you learn Italian more quickly. I have found a site on YouTube that has simple exercises with subtitles as an added learning tool. But I have to get a little further along — I understood one story, but was missing a lot too. I am only 72 days into it though.
I like the Facebook Word Warriors page … sometimes I know the word, but not that often. This word called to me, but they have some funny and unique stuff there. I’ve followed for a while. My boss collected unique words and phrases and used them when speaking or writing. He had books and flashcards with oddball words, so I used to e-mail him a Warrior word every time they posted a new one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s always fun to read a Year In Review, though my heart broke regarding the devastation of that park and the loss of so much wildlife and habitat. It should be illegal to ever do any such work during breeding season.
I did like your “dealing with problems zero hours” – that would be the dream for me 🙂
Not starting hobbies until later in the year may have been good. After retirement, (especially as you had to work 3 extra months), taking some quiet, leisurely time before starting anything may have been just what you needed, which is why the hobbies didn’t come scratching at the door of your mind.
Watercolour is so lovely, and I love your painting. I’m glad you were able to continue using online resources.
Looks like we may have to eventually start writing our comments in French 🙂 since we are both learning it.
I hope 2025 is full of fun, leisure time, enjoyable activity and an abundance of nature 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you enjoyed reading my year in review Ari and I continue to be heartsick over what they have done to this Park. This Park with its ambiance and such a quiet place to go and walk, ponder life, feed the squirrels and birds, has now been destroyed. It will take many years to have any ambiance and there will be no more trees along the shoreline. I agree about doing this project during nesting season. We will lose a lot of waterfowl as well since the water levels are so low now (we were in moderate drought status in the Summer and we did not have a lot of rain this Fall) and there are no nesting places for them – it’s just so wrong.
I told myself that I needed a few months to just relax and start anew – the first day of retirement, there was another downed wire fire in the house behind, so not off to a good start at all. I plan to do the decluttering in earnest now during the heart of Winter, though I’m not that enthusiastic about it. Then I can devote time to more watercolor classes. Right now the French is taking up a lot of time and learning another 30 words it seems every other day – lots to memorize, but good for the brain. Yes, I have to get a little more fluent and catch up with you a little first ! 🙂
Thanks for your well wishes Ari and I wish the same for you and your partner as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Linda, congratulations on meeting your walking miles goal!! What an accomplishment and discipline you have to keep it up all year. And your furry pals must thank you from the bottom of their hearts since your walks bring them treats regularly.
It was disheartening to hear about the squirrel scampering up and down the tree with her dead babies when the park was getting its makeover. Wow, that would’ve been hard to see. I’m glad you weren’t there to see it. But the little Christmas tree that took is an inspiration! That tree was determined to grow and how lucky that you met the guy who planted it there.
I like your word for the year: snoodle! What a funny sounding word.
I’d say don’t be too hard on yourself post-retirement. You’ve been doing lots of things and trying things outs. Remember all the things you’ve done for yourself than what you should’ve done. Painting and relearning French are major endeavors! I think you’re doing great!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Esther for your vote of confidence and all the nice words. The walking regimen in 2011, then in 2013 starting a blog and discovering this park a few months later and a renewed interest in photography were the best things I have done for myself. I hope one day to be able to supplement the blog with paintings or even sketches … that may be a little while down the road yet. It breaks my heart every time I go to the Park and see how it looks now – it is a travesty and yes, I am so glad I didn’t witness the squirrel carrying her dead babies from the nest that came crashing to the ground. I am glad I met the guy who told me he planted that tree and put the one ornament on … that was fate to see him and learn about it so I could write about it here. I’ve seen him before, but not often. It brightened up things at this venue – that’s for sure. I liked that word as well Esther and tucked it away to use for my year-end post. This FB site has some funny words that they regularly post. I guess you are right – it was a busy year and the French is keeping me hopping as well. I learned another 28 words today!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I definitely think you can supplement your blog with your sketches and paintings1 I like how you shared your pumpkin watercolor one on your blog. That one inspired Ellis to use colored pencils and draw one similar to yours.
Yes, your roving reporter role was perfect for meeting the tree planting guy. The ornament was special. I wonder how big that tree will grow this year?
28 words is a lot…keep going. That’s a good pace. I’m pacing myself with photoshop too. It’s daunting for me to learn about the interface and all these tricks and shortcuts. But I’m taking it a little piece everyday…hoping to keep it up for a long period of time to learn and improve.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am looking forward to doing that Esther … as soon as I deal with some of my clutter, I am going full speed ahead. I would like to join the group but need to do better, drawing, then painting, just to “fit in” although one of the members told me a couple of years ago to just come along and learn on the fly. I remember you said Ellis did the same pumpkin still life – that is great. She is artistic now, like in the past. I have another pumpkin still life I saw and tucked away somewhere – when I find it, both Ellis and I can try it out.
Maybe I should document the little fir tree’s growth each year in my photo wrap-up for the year? So maybe next time I’m at the Park I need to take a ruler. He told me he had it in a pot, like you get if you buy one for Christmas with decorations, then you plant it … he said it kept getting bigger and bigger and finally outgrew the plant, so it was time to plant it. Two years’ growth there already – thankfully not on the side they tore apart! That’s a good idea you gave me to see how fast it grows, like a kid getting measured on the wall. 🙂 A guy in the neighborhood moved into his grandparents’ house when they passed away and he planted a fir tree in the backyard – it is very tall and towers over the garage and near the electrical wires. Pretty amazing.
I am sure Photoshop will try your patience sometimes, so set it aside then and come back with a fresh eye and it will be better. There are loads of tutorials at YouTube for beginners, just like for watercolors.
LikeLike
Linda, there is a blogger friend who moved to Michigan from Indiana last summer. She’s a fellow nature lover. I shared our blog link with her yesterday, and I wanted to share hers with you. https://heavenssunshine.com/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Esther. I am sorry I forgot to mention last night in comments to you that I did get a nice comment from Pepper and I read her “About” page and told her that we both had in common that we started out with a point-and-shoot camera around the same time. I use my point-and-shoot a lot, especially at the Park, as I can control feeding the critters and taking pictures almost instantly. It is easier to do two things at one time and a lot of the pictures in the recap of favorite photos were taken with the point-and-shoot camera that will be ten years old this year.
LikeLike
Oh, I’m so glad you heard from Pepper!! You are both nature lovers and she walks a lot of trails like you do. Yay!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am too Esther – I’ll be interested to see where she goes in Michigan! Thanks for the link.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome!!
LikeLiked by 1 person