Farewell to 2005

I love those Year in Review type magazines. World Magazine usually puts one out, but I haven't gotten it yet. They made some changes earlier this year with the way they mail things. It was supposed to make the magazines arrive in a more timely fashion. It didn't. I used to get my magazines the week of their issue date, now I never know when I'll get them.

There were several changes this year at the plant, starting last January when Brent Spikes resigned, followed quickly by Scott Reid and Bob Moody. Bob was the last one to leave, in March. They were replaced by Jake Spears (I never thought I'd miss Brent Spikes), Donald Rhoton (who actually seems ok), and Howard Schmidt (who won't even move here and is running the plant from Atlanta--or I should say trying to). Keith Tartt resigned in November, and as of yet, hasn't been replaced.

Virgil Mann passed away in January after battling cancer for several years. He was much loved and will be missed.

In June, I lost my 7 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever to complications from canine diabetes. He was my baby, and a good dog. And yes, he was blind, too. I still miss him.

Then in August, we lost TJ, the puppy I'd gotten after Dakota died, to parvo.

After TJ died, I wrote this poem:

Heartbreak


Unexpectedly you came into my life.
You brought me joy, you brought me light.
Then suddenly you were gone again
And I’m left with the darkness of my grief in the night.

They say things happen for a reason
Yet all I can do is ask why?
Why am I left alone with
These empty arms, this ache inside?

There are no answers to my questions.
There are no reasons I can see.
At night hot tears fall to my pillow.
There is no comfort yet for me.

(August 7, 2005)

And finally, in November, we lost Sam, also to parvo.

It just didn't seem fair. It was not a good year for dogs in our house. However, good old Katie turned 10 on November 25, and is still hanging in there.

2005 was not a good year for knitting either, as tendonitis kept me from it for much of the year. Here is the final tally:

6 frou-frou scarves, three washcloths, two baby sweaters, a scarf and hat set, and a pancho. Not much to show for a whole year. I've also done most of a baby afghan, but I ran out of yarn. Fortunately, I found some on e-bay, and I'm just waiting for it to get here.

In karate, I was promoted to ni-kyu in April, and to ik-kyu in November. My next test will be for shodan. I learned three new kata, Chinto, Kusanku, and Agena no sai. As a brown belt, I spent most of the year teaching. In our dojo, once you make brown belt, your training pretty much grinds to a halt. I've been a brown belt for nearly as long as it took me to get from white to brown, and I've got at least another year to go.

Sheesh, I've gotten myself depressed now. This really hasn't been a very good year for me. It has been marked by losses in my life--personal losses, but still very grieving to me. For a time, I'd even lost my means of comfort, knitting, because of my tendonitis. And I even feel that I've lost, to an extent, my means of release, karate, because of certain people who joined the class and other dear friends who left.

So here's to 2006, a new year with new opportunities. A fresh start. May it be an improvement over 2005.