There are always good times. Even amidst our deepest darkest days, there are breaks in the clouds…there are rays of light getting through. Why should 2020 be any different.
Michael and I started off our year with a bang. January found us in the Dominican Republic. Sun, sand, beauty. But first, I actually began January 2020 by doing what most of us would be doing some 2 1/2 to 3 months later. I baked. No, it wasn’t banana bread! I baked a Tarta de Santiago. Some call them Camino Cake.
It’s the tasty almond cake that is offered along the Camino de Santiago. Pilgrims everywhere have come to love it. One of the many things one brings home with them from the Camino.
As mid-January approached we were off to the Dominican!
We explored the island and had some great down time on the beach and by the pool, unaware of what was brewing in 2020’s near future.
It was the time of our lives…and just in time.
January became February became March and one day we found ourselves at Congee Queen. Our last supper before it all came crashing to a halt.
We all know what happened in March. We were not immune to the Banana Bread Epoque of the Pandemic either. We too imbibed.
And…cookies!
And…more banana bread…
And…more banana bread…
Soon, we realized we would have to live this way for a while. We had to get out sometime. Move around. The banana bread was starting to… take.
It was a pandemic, but we still had beauty…
April came and so did the socially distant visits with the grandbabies!
There was loss in 2020 for everyone. It was such a difficult year to lose loved ones. So many lost opportunities to share in the burden and come together to mourn. I never want to experience loss in a pandemic ever again. We love those we lost this year, in this of all the years to lose loved ones.
May was time to act like Spring had come, to gather together a little garden in our little oasis in the sky.
Thanks to Michael’s generous sister and brother-in-law, we were even able to get to one of my favourite places…where you need only open your eyes to experience the beauty…
We said goodbye to May with one more Tarta de Santiago!
June came. Every garden should bloom as pretty…
July came, and with it…the arrival of my ADVANCED READER COPIES! ARCs. Advice time: Never release a novel you love with all your heart during a pandemic!
July was also for quiet nights at home…maybe with some red! We enjoyed our quiet evenings with Molly…awaiting the arrival of our soon to be new family members…
We were brave enough, come August, to go out for the odd walk. We are close to so much nature, even in the city.
It was also time to start enjoying the gifts of our garden…
AND MORE WALKS! And…patios. Cautiously, socially distantly…PATIOS…
And MORE walks!
Come September, the great escape. Two weeks in paradise, thanks again to Michael’s sister and brother in law. It wasn’t what we had in mind going into 2020. We were going to spend these weeks in Paris. But a birthday in this paradise is a wonderful thing, nonetheless!
September also meant AUTHOR COPIES. The final version of THE CAMINO CLUB!
October. A dying plant gives us the end of its harvest…
OCTOBER 6TH! The Camino Club is LIVE…in the world!
This is where our trip down 2020 Memory Lane comes to an end. Christmas was hard. Not seeing those we love in those moments when we usually see more of them is just…bad. We ended our year with our surprise new arrivals. DollyAnn & LollyPop are here…and they’re a handful at the moment. So December has been a very busy time for us.
Happy New Year! May your 2021 be filled with hope, health and heart.
KEVIN CRAIG 
2020 was a year that’s for sure. Launching your book in the middle of this would have been a challenge and add no international travel. But it looks like you made the best of the situation — which doesn’t seem to be going away even though the calendar now says 2021! Stay safe Kevin.
Thanks so much! You stay safe too! We have to find the light in the darkness. There is ALWAYS joy! 😊❤️