The final day of 2023 has arrived. Despite predictions to the contrary, it appears we will actually make it to the arrival of 2024, which should be quite a tumultuous year.
The new year is a Leap Year and that means it is one-day longer than 2023.
Unlike the past two years, I will be ringing-in the new year in Maryland and not Florida. It has been just two years since I retired and I am still enjoying life without the necessity of setting an alarm clock.
This week, the flexibility of my retired life was recognized as Chris and I made the decision to extend our time in Maryland by a few days. In the world before retirement that would have been a difficult, if not impossible, ask. I would have been driven, literally, to get back to work.
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Chris and the Boat Sandbar in St Lucie River August 2, 2023 |
I reviewed my image archives searching for the image which best characterizes the year, but it is tough with so many memories. I think this one, of Chris next to our boat, Sea Bean, anchored on a sandbar really captures the character of the year. We joined a boat club during the year and I have found great enjoyment learning to handle a boat and exploring the Intracoastal Waterway between Ft. Pierce and Lake Worth. I am looking forward to getting back onto the water when we return to Florida. And that is the beauty Florida life--year round outdoors summertime activity!So on this final day of 2023, I remember those who have passed this year, and for whom I shed many tears, and the new friends we have made. I also remember the travel and fun that we have enjoyed, as well as the roughly 1967 miles I rode on my bike!
Here's a toast to the past and hope for the future.
-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD