2021 was a busy year. Better than 2020, but still complicated. Here are some highs and lows from my point of view.

HIGHS

• We no longer had to worry each day about what crime or insanity the President would initiate.
• Almost all of our family and friends got vaccinated.
• Kathryn completed and published her 12th book. Congrats!
• I completed a quantum encryption project for a friend’s company, and learned a lot.
• I made many trips to KY to see family. And we bought our second home in Louisville.
• We took nice trips to Hawaii (the Big Island), Napa, Reno, Cabo and southern Colorado.
• We paid off our California home. Now free and clear!
• We sold the one Louisville rental property that was a money pit, so now that business is going great.
• I got to play Oakmont again with friends, and actually enjoyed it (for the first two days).
• Jon Sessions and I won our flight at the Tchefuncta golf tournament in NOLA.
• I completed my first year as Chairman of the Board for 211 San Diego, and the organization is in the best health in its history. (Most of the credit for that belongs elsewhere, but hey, I didn’t screw it up.)
• I completed my 2021 reading challenge, finishing 80+ books.
• I wrote over 50 essays for a Storyworth autobiography.
• Emily, Greg and the grandsons came to CA for a nice long visit.

That’s a pretty great list. But now for the other side of the coin.

LOWS

• Kentucky had its worst basketball season ever. Ever!
• The Coronavirus keeps mutating and spreading. It becomes clear that normal isn’t coming back anytime soon. 800,000 Americans now gone due to COVID. Unreal.
• The very recent western KY tornadoes and the damage they caused.
• The January 6 insurrection. Yikes!
• My pandemic weight gain became…a bigger number. Unacceptable.
• I didn’t write much, other than in the blog and the Storyworth essays.
• I had to apply for Medicare. Not fun.

But all-in-all, a good year. Still healthy enough, still solvent and still having some great experiences in life. Can’t complain about any of that.