2020 in verse

Greetings, dear reader! It's been quite a year.

And more than that since I last posted, I fear.

So much has happened, with COVID and all,

I planned to post long ago -- now we're through fall!

Last winter was nice; we stayed home for a change.

The in-laws came over, which seemed sort of strange

since summers we tend to head west if we can.

Who knew 2020 would alter that plan?

We went to Glow Gardens (it's lit, as they say),

then home to the fire, drank eggnog all day.

The annual trip to the Christmas tree farm

gave presents a fir under which to stay warm.

Spring came around, all pandemically fraught,

with rules what we could do and what we could not.

It didn't affect us too much at the start

(once TP and hand san were bought by the cart).

School took a pause, but it didn't take long

for learning from home to begin going strong.

The teachers were awesome; the kids learned a ton.

The parents (well, this one) were glad when 'twas done.

Since air travel seemed like a terrible choice

(think masks, and think one-year-olds raising their voice),

we opted to do some more camping instead.

So Carrie booked several trips far ahead.

She booked us three summer trips, back in the spring

before legit camping was even a thing.

So once they allowed it, there was a mad race,

but we had all our camp bookings in place.

(This rhyming attempt, started eons ago,

is why this whole blog thing is going so slow.

But what fun exactly would life really be

without such a task to demoralize me?)

Spring brought warm weather and pushed us outdoors.

We worked on the yard and the garden some more.

Some aerating, dirt and more seed for the lawn,

and tilling grass under for beds to go on.

Another task was to get laundry machines.

My efforts to keep the old pair fit to clean

eventually failed so I bought something nice:

A fancy used set for a fifth of new price.

My parents came up for a visit in May.

We visited Brockville one very warm day.

On the St. Lawrence we found a nice beach.

The kids had a riot (a figure of speech).

Much of our work and our social events

took place via video, and it made sense

when lockdown rules made it much harder to meet.

With screen time (which I dislike) life was replete:

Family, school board, committees, and school,

church, graduation, piano class too.

I've done more on screen than I'd ever before.

(I'd still rather poke out an eye than do more.)

So yeah, with piano it's going quite well

for Lily; I do think our girl will excel.

She'd still rather craft or do cross-stitch, for sure

but I think her fondness for it will mature.

She's so good with Nora, the two are great friends,

and Nora loves anything Lily commends.

So whether they're singing or dancing or what,

you'll rarely spot only one sis doing that.

Li'l Nora says plenty, but no "s" or "r".

That makes it real hard to say "princess" or "star".

But this doesn't stop her from speaking her mind;

in that way these sisters are two of a kind!

Nora's achievements are worthy to cheer:

I've changed like three poopies in over a year!

She chills on the toilet so regularly

I simply don't care she needs diapers to pee.

Shopping's been different this year, in a way.

I mean, I shopped lots online back in the day.

But this year the shipping takes months or whatnot;

by that time I no longer need what I bought.

My office upstairs isn't mine anymore

(I'm now holed up down on the subterrain floor).

The government had to appropriate it:

It's Carrie's spot now; she'll be there for a bit.

In summer we ventured out and went camping thrice.

Once for July long with friends; that was nice.

The next one to Arrowhead Park, but our car

had issues before we could get very far.

So onto the side of the highway we rolled.

I cast a keen eye 'neath the trailer we pulled.

I saw there were tires, but that, my dear friends,

is where my vast knowledge of vehicles ends.

And that was the start of the saga this year

of one Subaru I no longer hold dear.

Only now, four months later, the car's running well...

well, sort of, but that tale can wait for a spell.

Back to our camping! We made it at last

to Arrowhead Park, by not driving too fast,

pulling a trailer with goodies galore

to camp for a week, just a family of four.

The third trip now. Planned for Niagara way

where we hoped to start with a Labour Day stay,

then carry on west to Point Farms (camping here)

before heading home for another school year.

Sadly, the car saga kept us in line.

I tried hard to have it all ready in time.

But one day before the Niagara trip

it still wasn't fixed. I was ready to flip!

So I got on the phone, call each car rental place,

asking if they had a car with some space.

I struck out, except for one silly suggestion:

A minivan! Ha! That's just out of the question.

But finally one place had something for me.

They'd have something shortly, a big SUV.

All out of options, this had to suffice.

I took it. And boy, did it work out quite nice.

I'd filled up the trailer with camping supplies,

but rentals can't tow, so I needed the size

of a big SUV just to take all our stuff.

I managed to fit it, but boy it was tough!

We finally made it to Mom & Dad's place,

and spent some time chilling, all up in their space.

In honour of Dad's much-awaited seven-oh,

We kids took them out for a dinner (no show).

Point Farms! What a glorious lakeside resort

with all the pizzazz of an earning report.

Yeah, just a meh campground, too windy by far.

Erosion has chewed up the bulk of the shore.

The beach is no longer, and access stairs broke.

The kids wore their coats to the beach (not a joke).

It really poured buckets, and I felt down deep

a tree would fall over, kill us in our sleep.

But hey, we survived! So back home we went.

The summer was over, and that surely meant

That life would go back to the same ol' mundane.

And, well, that's what happened. All's fairly the same.

Some time in the summer we got Lily in

to city-run swimming class. Numbers were thin,

with limited people allowed in the pool

but not the instructors, which wasn't so cool

cuz that meant that I had to jump in and help.

(And I don't like water, cuz I'm no Mike Phelps.)

The swimming instructor hung out on the deck

and gave us directions from there. What the heck!

The good part? The class was just Lily and me.

Guess I got my swimming lessons for free!

The fall found us hiking, enjoying outdoors

It seems that this sort of thing happens now more,

since everyone feels like they're cooped up at home

and city folks head to the outdoors to roam.

We're gearing up for the same when it snows.

We bought us cross-country skis, and maybe... who knows...

Maybe it will actually snow in these parts.

Green Christmas right now, but soon winter should start.

This year's been a crazy one, one for the books,

Things seem to get better, then worse, and it looks

as though things will change only once a vaccine

is brought to all, but that remains to be seen.

Meantime I'll treasure my mask, this blue thing

that I found at Costco quite early last spring.

They say it's disposable; maybe that's true

but why not recycle, reuse and renew?

I'll clean out the booger smears now and again

And toss it in 5 years when COVID might end.

This final verse is for my dad (and Di)

for whom all parts of a poem must try

to rhyme perfectly, with so strict a meter

so as to fly off the tongue like St Peter.

See what I did there? Yeah, what am I smokin'?

Just so your dumb rhyming rules won't be broken.

So just for your orneriness I will end

with some non-rhyming nonsense. Ha, take that!

(It really hurt to purposely make it not rhyme, but hey, the cause is worthy!)