Just a Few More Days... and a Look Back at GOOD Things

Well, 2022 is almost out of here.

It's easy to focus on all the stuff that went wrong during this past year — and there was no shortage of that — but I like to also pause for a bit and find the things that went well and that I was grateful for, from the year that is about to end.

Without a doubt, the "big deal" of the year was our daughter's wedding, near the beginning of November. She and her now-husband had already been "an item" for eight years, and the finally decided to make it official, after having two dogs and a house together.

Although she had her "Bridezilla" moments, it was all in all a beautiful event and it went off largely without drama.

I'm also grateful for another fairly successful year of not only growing a significant part of our own food, but also for the fact that we "reclaimed" more of what was lawn and turned it into food growing space. With all the uncertainty in the world, it's comforting to know that we won't be starving, even when supply chain issues may themselves felt.

Bounty from our garden, this past summer

Selling Art at Shows

Another positive in 2022 was the fact that Mrs. Denmarkguy and I resumed going to arts and crafts shows and festivals as vendors with our respective creative ventures.

Prior to our first such even in July, our last event had been a Christmas show in December 2019, before the pandemic with all its lockdowns and stay-at-home orders.

For me, this was particularly rewarding because it meant actually selling art again, because the past two years had been a very frustrating road to nowhere, as I learned that painted mandala stones are almost impossible to sell online...

Our purple tent at an event, this summer

Even though I have some mixed feelings about it, there are certain ways in which my turning 62 years of age this past year was a positive... most specifically, in the sense that it meant that our future property tax bills will now have substantial reduction. We've always struggled to come up with the funds for those taxes — this year will be the last BIG bill, at just over US $7,000 — but we can certainly manage much easier with about a 75% exemption.

I'm glad that option is available here in our county... and also glad that we could also apply for "senior rates" on our electric bills, starting now in January. It's not a lot, but everything helps!

I just think it's important to remember that there usually are good things in our lives... even during extremely difficult times. It's good to acknowledge them, and to have gratitude!

Thanks for reading, and have a great Friday!

How about YOU? Did you have some really GOOD things happen in 2022? What were they? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20221230 01:26 PDT
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