The dawn of a New Year

I spent much of yesterday, after walking the beach at sunrise and hiking one of Nanaimo's urban parks, trying to come up with a blog post about saying goodbye to 2018 and welcoming 2019.  After all, the dawn of a New Year should merit acknowledgment on the blog.

Parksville Beach at sunrise
December 31, 2018

I came up empty.  Oh, there's the usual stuff about what happened in 2018 - the sad stuff like my nephew's passing, and seeing Allie off to the Rainbow Bridge; and the happy stuff like Maggie's little successes and mini-vacations at Saratoga.  And there's the in-between stuff that caused chaos and stress and joy and relief and worry and anticipation and a lot of hard work (also known as:  buying a patio home in a city where you know nobody and all the drama that comes with a move).

Maggie resolving to spend more time on the beach in 2019

And, since I'm not one to make resolutions, there's the blah-blah-blah about hopes and dreams for 2019, goals that may or may not be realized, plans that may or may not come to fruition.

Let's see, I could resolve to climb Mt. Arrowsmith.  Uh-uh.
(Photo taken from Parksville beach with the new camera.  Mt. Arrowsmith is about 25 km away as the crow flies, I think) 

Or I could plan some trips to the mainland and gulf islands - maybe....
(Photo taken from Parksville Beach with full zoom on new camera - the north shore mountains in the background are probably around 50 km away, according to google.  I think that is Lasqueti Island in the foreground, though it might be Texada. )

I couldn't come up with anything creative, so I didn't post last night.  I hoped something would come to me this morning.  But here I sit, mid-afternoon, staring at the computer and still empty-handed empty-headed.  It could be due to feeling slightly under the weather, despite not having had a single drink to see in the new year.  It could be due to the fireworks that went off at 8:00 PM (the community celebration ones), at 9:00 PM (someone in the neighbourhood), at 10:00 PM, and 11:00 PM and 12:00 PM and - yes - 1:00 AM (I guess those people are still on daylight savings time).  Thankfully, Maggie was NOT reactive to them - perhaps four hours of walking earlier in the day had worn her out.  But it did disturb my sleep from 10 PM on.  And left me with brain fog today.

Maggie:  Mom, that's not fog!  That's the sunrise through the trees! 

So, other than posting a few photos of yesterday's wonderful sunrise beach walk, and a collage of some of the damage done at Nanaimo's Beban Park during the recent storm, that's all I've got.

Reflections of a resort

Cleanup has begun at Beban Park.
The forested 23 acres on one side of the park (dirt path) did not seem to have too much damage other than one small section shown in the top left hand photo. The paved section of path on the golf-course side had dozens of trees uprooted and lots of damage.

I do wish you and yours a Happy New Year.  May 2019 bring you joy, good health,  fun times with people you care about, and the strength to face any challenges that come your way. 

Maggie says she hopes it also brings more treats.

Yum! More treats!
And more beach time, more hikes, more training time, more puzzle toys, more food.
Less vets. 

Happy New Year, everyone, from Maggie and me.