2021 Reflection and Review.

Not a lot of races this year....  or mushrooms.   So there is a chance this will be shorter than previous years.   However,   we put a LOT of irons in the fire and threw a Lot of spaghetti on the wall to see what would stick.   So there is also a chance this could be way too long!  I guess it will depend on my time and inspiration on what I want to tackle.   So let's get to it!  

Running:   Seems the easiest to start with.  Cheryl ran more than 2020, but less than 2019.   Perhaps it was an "average" year.   But what made it "not-Average" was that it was following a pandemic! And we started the year not knowing if we would even be able to run at all!  Our first run was another virtual one.  But as the weeks and months passed by,  folks started to come out of their holes and return to life.  I think Pella was the final "turn the corner" moment.   Even the Police were shaking hands and were not wearing masks.  The runners behaved as normal. 

A few weeks later: Kewash trail was a similar event.   It was good to be back in the racing circuit. Even still,  Cheryl chose races that were more local that before.   We stuck to Iowa for most of our racing.   Which ended up being a good thing, since we were able to travel to places we had never been before and explore a little more of the state.  Good times.

Speaking of Exploration!   We started out the year looking at houses around Iowa.   We drove to Mallard Iowa to check out a few houses we were interested in.   On the other end, we drove to Clinton, Iowa.   A place I never even knew existed!  It was funny, because later in the year, we actually ran a race there!  and Cheryl WON!   The fastest female overall for the Half Marathon!   It was the first time Cheryl won a Half Marathon....

Clinton is also the place where we met the Zakoseks.   They recognized Cheryl from the BIX and as we talked about races, we met them several other times.   Eventually, we started training with them.  ( Cheryl and Mike are the runners,  Pam and I tag along on bikes for support.)   They even invited us to Thanksgiving for Tacos!  How fun was that!    

There are plans in the works for a future Marathon for Cheryl and Mike.   Training has begun, and the superstitious-ness of runners will keep it vague until the time is almost upon us.   Just let it be known that there will be future joint training exercises and a few meet-ups to discuss strategies.   One of them will be starting tomorrow on New Year's Eve.  I'll keep you posted.

Back to the year!   Mushrooms were kind of  a feast or famine.  We found a bonanza of Boletes mid summer, but not as many Chanterelles, no Morals, Very few Shaggy caps or even Golden Oysters.  But we DID find Chicken of the woods on TWO separate occasions at two different locations.   Many of the Boletes turned out to the the Bitter variety. (Birch Bolete) And since I did not sample them as we harvested them, it is possible that many of them got mixed up with the King Boletes.   Rather disappointing to throw so many beauties away.   But... The Field Boletes had a GREAT year and I have several bags of those still waiting for soups. 

Chalk.   'Twas a great year for Chalk.  The dry summer made for some lasting murals,   Kids and parents became involved.   I learned how to make chalk that is almost pretty good.  I even got an article from the local Paper written up about me.  My celebrity moment comes with no benefits or salary.  Just everyone in town now knowing who I am.   So long Privacy.....

Cheryl, on the other hand, was seeking fame and fortune several times this year with her hand made soaps and home made goodies.   The Farmer's Markets proved to be disappointing at best. Down right depressing on the worst of days.   Forget the fact that she made more money than I did Last Summer.  She views her quest for Celebrity status as a failure.   The future is still up in the air on what will happen with the soap, but I still think she has some gains to make. 

Subie was running great, right up until August.   That was when a small routine repair turned into a full on engine rebuild.   The good news is that Subie lives once more.   The bad news was that we were without him for nearly a month and a half.   That is a long time to be without your Subaru!

Stockings were fairly typical this year with only a few changes.   But those changes were rather significant.   First:  The pandemic forced us to buy our supplies far earlier than expected.   It also forced us to buy for the entire year!   As a result, we were never in a supply crisis this year.  

Also,  Instead of closing the shop on December 5 like we usually do,   we chose to stay open.   As a result, sales continue to trickle in.  Sales we would traditionally miss. ( in fact, we sold two stockings today!)  They certainly are not flooding in, but they are at a rate where we can keep up and continue making money.  

There are lots of other things... This is already too long.   And I have other things to do tonight, so I best wrap this up.   For Future Cheryl and Ethan... you can always read the blog posts directly. I'll even leave out the new bike,  new cat, machine repairs, and dozens of other insignificant stories.   The year of the Ox is almost over and the Year of the Tiger awaits!  Cheryl was born in the year of the Tiger. And Tigers get things done.    We shall see as 2022 unfolds before us.   

For now,  Good fiends, Family, and all the good things that happened this year will be summed up in this post.   Tomorrow we travel so any posts that happen will most likely be brief, if they happen at all.   We shall see.   With that...   I would like to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year!  And let's hope and aim for better brighter things.    Thanks for stopping in.