Ready to Remember the Song Birds in 2018

Each new year is a surprise to us.  We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again, it is remembered like a dream . . .  Thoreau

There were so many times during 2017 that I really did forget the note of each bird.  All too often the resonance of the beauty of this world was muffled by National tragedies, instability in our government, scandals, sexual assault coming from those in positions of trust, and the loss of so much talent (again), especially one of my favorites, Gregg Allman. But it only took gentle reminders of all the goodness in this life to bring back the music.

I realized that when I sat down to write my Christmas letter.  I always try to highlight my year with words and phrases in the shape of a Christmas tree.  This year's looked like this--

The contents of this little tree drowned the cacophony coming from the outside world, starting with

OUR ROYAL BABIES

Getting to see all eight of these pumpkins made my heart sing throughout 2017.  Ethan, Drake, Max, Madi, Lucy, Quinn, Archer, and Russell all have that Thompson blood running through them yet are unique and amazing in their own way.  They are the song birds of our family.

great nieces and nephews

THEIR PARENTS ARE PRETTY AMAZING, TOO.

Getting to see all nine of my nieces and nephews and their honeys brought more music to 2017.  Amy, Andy, Jill, Kyle, Micki, Adam, Jake, Nathan, and Gabe all have grown into beautiful and compassionate adults, and this aunt couldn't be prouder.

nieces and nephews

OF COURSE, THEIR PARENTS ARE AWESOME AS WELL!

My brothers and sisters and their sweeties are the best siblings/friends a girl could have.  Seeing their gorgeous faces often during 2017 brought melodious harmony to my world,  always when I needed it most.

Brothers and sisters

AND MY MOM, WHO STARTED IT ALL!

We are so grateful to have our mom with us.  She brings strength and love to all of us, and constantly reminds us that in the midst of confusion, there is always a melody.  We can't wait to celebrate her 90 years of life in 2018.

Mamacita

SUMMER OF LOVE

Yes. it truly was!  For many reasons, like--

My niece Amy moved back to Colorado after living in San Francisco for the past twenty years, and having her and her sweet family just around the corner gives us all a sense of peace and harmony.  Welcome home, Ames!

Amy's home :)

And, my nephew Nathan and his bride celebrated their marriage with a weekend full of family, music, lots of dancing, and so much love!!

Christmas Lake Love

Lake time before the reception

We danced.  And danced.  And danced!

You can read more about the weekend here.

SOLAR ECLIPSE OF THE HEARTLAND

Crickets chirping at noon, darkness when it should be light, Venus bright and visible in the middle of the day, solar flares and coronas--all these things and more as I witnessed my first total solar eclipse.  Nothing else mattered that day.  Absolutely nothing.  You can read about this magical experience here.

LIVING THE RETIRED LIFE

With the support of my family, I made the decision to retire after 32 years as an English teacher.  Although the decision itself was easy, telling my students and colleagues was tough.  I waited until March to do it, and my announcement was met with gasps, questions, tears (tons from me!), memories, and finally hugs and good wishes.  I will write about all that in 2018, but for now, even though I miss teaching and all those incredible students, my dreamers,  I don't regret my decision one bit.  The time was right.  At times, I still feel like I am on an extended summer break and that I'll have to go back on a Monday morning, but the reality is that I don't!  I love Sunday nights without lesson planning and the dread of Monday mornings.  I love leisurely drinking my tea in the morning and reading the paper or emails before getting dressed for the day.  I love being available to go to dance recitals and school programs in the middle of the work week.  I love having much less stress in my life.  Yes, I love being retired!!

Announcements and parties

and more parties

There really was so much to be grateful for this year, and now I'm getting ready to bid adieu to 2017 and am eagerly looking forward to remembering, like a dream, the note of each bird in 2018.

Happy New Year, everyone!

and with my newly acquired low-stress status, my biggest decision to make as the clock approaches midnight is

Which book should I read next???

Perfect Christmas gifts 

Champagne Summer

I'm sitting on my patio going through summer pictures on my iPhone, trying to organize and weed out those that are redundant or not so fabulous.  It's taking me way longer than it should, and I'm not deleting very many.  Instead, I'm sipping champagne and  smiling as I remember all the enchantment and love of the last few months.  For most of this summer, the weather was delightfully sparkling and warm, family and friends were bubbly and sweet,  and my adventures were all fun filled and effervescent.  Kind of like

Champagne!

I'm about an hour into my picture organizing (and champagne drinking) and I realize that the folders I've created mirror the very reason that this Summer of 2017 will go down in my book as almost perfect.  Take a look inside my photo book.

CELEBRATIONS

Oh, celebrate we did, with dance recitals and birthdays and weddings and retirements.  And champagne!

Madi aka Moana.  Away Away!

Jess turns 21!  The twins are 4.  Mom is 89 <3

Another retirement celebration??  I know--how awesome is that??

Nate and Lindsey are married!

       

Throughout all the celebrating we cheered and ate cake and sang and danced.  (and drank champagne!)

THE PATIO

My backyard beckoned me every night this summer.  I (and usually my mom and Jewel) spent so many warm, quiet evenings listening to the bubbly fountain and crickets, reading books and emails and letters, planning our days.  And drinking champagne.

Solar lights, sparkling water, books, Jewel

Fitzgerald, tea, and a real letter from Cousin Ginny

I'm hoping these patio nights linger way into autumn.

     

A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE (of the heartland!)

I never imagined that seeing a solar eclipse could be so magical, but experiencing this celestial event with my mom and sister and nieces and nephews made it so.  Read about my experience here.  

Diamond rings, eclipse glasses, and family

AUGUST

Yes, August!  I've always dreaded the month of August.  For as long as I can remember, August signaled school starting and the end of summer.  I always had a sense of sadness as August loomed ahead, knowing that my days of leisure would soon be filled to the rim with school work, early nights, and way too much stress.  Not this year!  I think I was looking forward to August most of all--no school and no stress.  Instead, August brought glorious weather, brunches, more patio nights, long walks with Jewel, road trips, out-of-town visitors.  And champagne :)

Road trip essentials, fresh veggies, brunch

Brunch, summer flowers, reading

Peg's veggies turn into fresh salsa and pasta sauce

   

FAMILY

I'm almost finished with my picture organizing project.  I spent way too long looking and not enough time deleting.  But my folders are complete.  The last folder is the fullest, and I find myself lingering the longest as I feel the love all over again.  I got to see every single member of my fam this summer, whether in Colorado, Nebraska, or on the shores of Christmas Lake.

Nebraska, Colorado, and Minnesota family love

Everyone's a fish at Christmas Lake

Christmas Lake Love

  Nothing brings me more joy than love and hugs from Mom and sisters.

I'd melt for my sisters

 and brothers

and brothers

 and nieces and nephews

too hard to get nephews to pose--the girls are always game

and Royal Babies

all 8 of them!

and besties.

BFF

And a few more--this isn't even close to all the pictures in this last folder--it would be overflowing if it were a real folder!

And a grand finale lake compilation <3

And now, with my photos nicely organized in my new iPhone folders (Celebrations, The Patio,, Total Eclipse, August, and Family), I'm almost ready to say goodbye to this perfect summer.  But first, one more glass of  champagne.

Total Eclipse of the Heartland

A total solar eclipse swept across the entire continental United States on August 21, 2017.  The buzz began years before--people made plans all over the world to visit a site along the path.  Hotels sold out months, even years, in advance by those with the foresight to plan ahead.  The procrastinators were left scrambling for accommodations, and many resorted to sleeping in cars in the middle of a parking lot or field.  

The Heavens aligned for this particular eclipse to allow almost anyone in the U.S. to catch a glimpse if desired.  The path of totality ran straight through the Heartland of America, and a partial eclipse spread even wider.  A simple road trip could lead anyone to a view of the eclipse.  

And so road trip I did.  

Colorado sunflowers, Sonic, Bruce, Eclipse glasses, and the Platte

I grew up in Nebraska so I had a choice of places to go.  My hometown of Alliance, Nebraska was right in the path of totality, and the city planned many celebrations.  Major television stations set out to observe from our own Carhenge.  I decided against that choice since my family isn't there anymore. 

My brother Mark lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, which also was in the path, but the length of totality was not at peak.  I decided to tag Lincoln on to the end of my eclipse trip.

That left me with Cairo, Nebraska--right smack in the middle of the path and offering the longest possible view of the total solar eclipse.  Of course I wouldn't have known any of this if it weren't for my sister Peg, a science nerd through and through.  She started talking about it way back in the spring.  Plus, she lives in Cairo--how perfect was that!  

In order to get an unobstructed view, we watched from her friend's house on a golf course.  After a little bit of a morning freak out with mostly cloudy skies, we settled in with lawn chairs, mimosas, yummy food, and family.  We rationalized that even with  clouds, we would still get to see the darkening sky and feel the temperature drop.  But then a miracle happened--the clouds dissipated, the skies cleared to a bright blue, and we were on our way to a perfect view of totality.  

We watched, with our eclipse glasses, as the moon carved a small crescent into the sun at 11:33 am.  We watched that crescent grow as it covered a fourth of the sun and then half and then three quarters.  At this point there was a definite change in the sky as it took on a late afternoon look.  Right before the moon took over completely, the temperature dropped to a cool evening feel and the sky darkened.  Birds started acting strange, crickets chirped, stars came out, and we even saw Venus in the middle of the day.  At 12:58 pm, the moon covered the sun and we had totality.  For the next 2 minutes and 34 seconds we gazed at the blocked sun.  Without glasses!  We saw it all--solar flares, the sparkling corona of the sun's edges, Bailey's elusive beads.  And the diamond ring!!  I wanted to see that most of all.  We saw it just as totality ended.  We all cheered.  I choked up a bit.  I have never seen anything as amazing as that--I now understand why people travel the world to witness a total eclipse.

And then the sun began to emerge and back on went our eclipse glasses.  The sky lightened, the temperature quickly heated up, and our little neck of the woods returned to normal.

My sister posted this quote by Fred Espenak (Mr. Eclipse) a few days later--

"But within those few precious minutes people have joined an exclusive club of the most spectacular thing you can see with a human eye. There are few events in life that leave a permanent, indelible impression," he said, and "a total eclipse of the sun is just such an event."

I am thrilled to be a member of that exclusive club.

Diamond rings, Total eclipse of the heart shirts, eclipse glasses

My words pale compared to those of a four-year-old--here is Drake's story:

While the Total Eclipse was an amazing event, it was just one of three on my Nebraska road trip.  I got to see almost all of my Nebraska family.  First up:

Kearney and Elm Creek

Bike rides, Apple trees, Board games, Hotel fun

Royal babies, nieces, sisters, Mom, and Jewel

Onward to Lincoln

UNL, Ice cream, State capital, Amazing elevator, Views

Royal babies, nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, kisses, and Mom

I never imagined seeing a solar eclipse would end up being so unforgettable.  And seeing my family along this week-long road trip really did make this a Total Eclipse of the Heart!

Reason to Believe

Where Were You When. . . ?

Memories: Where were you when...?

IMAGINE

I’m shopping in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the middle of our annual Christmas shopping tradition.  The mall is decorated in glitter and red and green.  The air is crisp and festive.  My sister has been inside a store, and I am waiting for her.  I see her now.  Her face is serious, much different from when she went in.  John Lennon is dead, she tells me.

My heart stops.  No.  This can’t be true.  My whole childhood flashes before my eyes.  Beatles notebooks.  Beatles lunch boxes.  Beatles posters.  Beatles magazines.  Beatles dolls.  Beatles 45s.  Beatles albums.  Beatles.

All I can do is hug my sister and try to breathe.  John Lennon is dead.  Shot by a deranged fan.  Our shopping day has come to an abrupt end.  I don’t even want to continue with our plans, but somehow I need to go to the . . .

Grove.  I meet my college girlfriends at our favorite hangout, The Grove.  I need to be with them and to see familiar faces of Grove regulars.  The mood is somber tonight, not the usual loud rock and roll feel.  Everyone is talking about John—favorite songs, favorite albums.  John Lennon songs are softly playing from the stage.  Give Peace a Chance.  Starting Over.  Mind Games.  Instant Karma.

Imagine.

Nothing will ever be the same.

Everything has changed.