2020: The Jonquils will still bloom…

Happy New Year! Sure, it’s a week into 2021, but if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that you just do the best you can do with what you’ve got, right? And time has been one of those things I’ve been short on this past week. Hell, who are we kidding – I’ve been short on time for the better part of the last decade.

While we will all never agree on politics, religion and all those other controversial topics, I do believe that we will all agree on the fact that 2020 was a whopper.

And while most all of us are ready to see 2020 straight out the door, I think it’s important that we take stock of the good things that came out of 2020. Like how everyone has learned the importance of hand washing. Who knew some of you weren’t washing your hands like you should have been all this time? Silver linings, folks. Silver linings.

For our crew, like most, it was a weird year. We all got to try our hand (and still are) at homeschooling, trips got canceled, large gatherings became borderline illegal and masks replaced lipstick.

But then again, in 2020…

The Circus made (with the only assistance being me dropping the chicken into the hot oil) fried chicken for Christmas and it was the best fried kitchen to come out of my kitchen.

Family binge watching has become a thing, thanks to Flea Market Flip. The kid’s new motto is “Buy Low, Sell High” and hearing an 8 year old yell at grown adults on a TV screen telling them they paid too much, “you just ruined that beautiful piece” or “why’s it always gotta be turned into a bar?” has brought me immeasurable laughs.

We opened Local Depot! A real life brick and mortar store! Sure, opening a retail business amid a pandemic wasn’t the smartest move. Needless to say, that wasn’t part of the plan, but when you’re so far in, you just gotta roll with it.

Grunt Labor bought some of his very own cattle. He became the proud owner of one bred heifer and a yearling. Let me tell ya, that’s a sentence I never dreamed I’d write 10 years ago….and speaking of 10 years ago….

Grunt and I hit the 10 year wedding anniversary mark in 2020! We were supposed to enjoy a trip to Jackson Hole, but the pandemic put that on hold.

I fell in a mud pit full of yes, mud, but also cow shit.

It took a hose down, a shower with multiple scrubs, two sprays of lysol directly on the skin and then another shower to get the stench off me.

There was still a 4th of July parade and if you were there and heard “Happy New Year!” being yelled from one of the floats, it was these two cuties who were wishing the year away as fast as they could…

We were able to go to Dollywood a few times this year. Once before the pandemic hit and a couple more times, all masked up, of course. The Circus continues to earn her daredevil card, riding every roller coaster they’ll let her on.

We had a record year with corn! The crop did extremely well, we sold out in just a few hours time and the Circus did a great job with her added “corn duties” this year.

We were still able to go to Isle of Palms and socially distance at the beach!

Maleficent made an appearance at our house this year…

We got one good snow!

After wanting a cowhide rug for the better part of a decade, I got not one, but two cowhide rugs for Christmas… 😂

And just as they do every year, the Jonquils bloomed…

I think that’s something to remember this year – things can be rough, but like the Jonquils, when we dig down deep to find those strong roots, we can always find a way to bloom again.

How corny was that one? ☝️ Here’s to 2021, friends. I hope you have a year full of blooms!