Play Auld Lang Syne, Goodbye 2006

Time to usher in a new year as I listen to barrage after barrage of firework artillery. Sounds like a war raging outside. If not for the God-awful racket I might be in a more reflective mood. It is New Year’s Eve, after all. Time to lay the old year in its grave, shovel dirt, and render a eulogy.

Goodbye 2006, you were certainly a year to remember. You started out well enough, bright-eyed and full of promise. We were just emerging from the wreckage of Hurricane Rita. There were still repairs to be done, but the worst was behind us. Then came the day we had long awaited. On January 21st Michelle and I were married in Mandeville amid the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Our wedding was a triumph of planning and perseverance over disaster and disruption. After all the hustle and bustle, pomp and circumstance, and a party of epic proportions, it was off to Trinidad & Tobago for a birding trip thinly disguised as a honeymoon.

Then it was back to Lumberton and work as usual. Spring came and went almost unnoticed. In June there was a trip to California for my Dad’s birthday and an excursion to Yosemite National Park. With Troy’s help we started a major remodeling project in August (turning a storage closet into a new bathroom). This kept us busy for the next few months and consumed most of my savings. Then in October came the happy news that Michelle was pregnant, followed by the discovery that she was carrying twins, and complications resulting in her being placed on bed rest through December.

It was an action-packed year that took off running and never slowed down. Most of my time and energy have gone into my job and making home improvements. There were some hurried moments spent birding in between, but it's all been a blur.

And that more or less sums up 2006, the year that was.