But, looking back, we did more things in 2020 than I realized, so here are the highlights. Starting with a pre-Covid (there was such a time?) birthday trip for me to Montreal; it's the only thing we did in 2020 that deserved it's own newsletter which you can see here.
The kids also took me out to Strega for my birthday and Rick and Elizabeth had a games night with birthday-cake substitutes and a King costume for me to wear. PRE-COVID, NO MASKS. :0
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Brie and Aidan gave us tickets to the Tasting Counter for a birthday present, which was a pris-fixe meal that we chose to do with a matching Saké tasting(which was actually pretty awesome, not only because food preparation included using blowtorches, but because the Saké pairings were unusual and fun). And who wouldn't want to drink "Dragon God?"
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The dogs celebrated their second birthday at the end of January. Technically, I suppose you could say that the dogs put up with us dressing them in silly hats, but everyone had fun. Or at least the bipeds did.
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Poppy helps us play "rIME"
 Don't tell Luna it's not a real fire |
 balancing act |
In February, Maddy came out for a visit. That prepped us for mid-March, when Covid ushered in more permanent guests: Charlotte, who was lovely and a joy to host, and Covid, which was not lovely and has seriously overstayed its welcome but won't take the hints to leave.
Massachusetts implemented a stay-at-home edict in mid-March. Charlotte, Maddy's friend (and the daughter of Alison's friend Gaelle), came to stay with us for a few weeks rather than work in her tiny apartment with multiple roommates. The few weeks turned into a few months as Covid went from a "blip" to a "year-plus- long-crisis." We also were able to visit Alison's relative Nina in March, and installed the wall-sized television in the family room in preparation for never going to a theater again ever in our lives.
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April, May, and June? Not so much activity. I took a lot of pictures of the pets. And the bird feeder. And the fancy lunches we had on the deck. And the woods where we walk the dogs. And we had a visit from Brie and Aidan for socially distanced loving of the Finnster. And through it all, Dobie maintained regal calm and elegance worth of the Royal Family.
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In July, police were seen wandering around our back woods. They asked Alison if she'd seen anyone running by with a bloody axe in their hands (technically speaking, we surmised the bloody axe). Answer: "No." But even that would have been a welcome bit of excitement.
Unrelated, but in sincere efforts to maintain an air of fun and excitement, Alison bought me a dragon bedspread that started with this conversation:
Dave: "Wow, look at that bedspread on this obscure Chinese web site. It's cool."
Alison: Laughs, then says, "Right. You should get it!"
Dave: "Ok, let me grab a credit card."
Alison: Stops laughing. "Really? That?" (but she ended up buying it for me anyway as a surprise and now we have a dragon bedspread that is reminiscent of an Elvis painting on black velvet from 1978. Says Alison.).
In the summer months, we took the dogs for long, rambling, hot hikes where they literally would run under bushes to cool down. And the big excitement was Alison's intestinal wall rupturing (surprise!) and having to have seven inches of large intestine removed. Good times, good times.
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Finally, in August, we actually did something: travelled to Rick and Elizabeth's Maine cabin for a few days. The dogs found the prospect very exciting. The cat... less so. It was an easy drive, four and a half hours with little or no traffic.
The camp, like last year, was a combination of beauty, solitude and a chance for the dogs to run around off leash. This year, they didn't disappear for hours at a time, but they did turn out to be water dogs, fully capable of swimming out to the floating platform once we swam out and Poppy finally panicked enough to go for it. Luna quickly followed suit, and while they seemed to like wading better than swimming they did a fair amount of dog-paddling around the dock.
We had bonfires and boat trips, beavers, bald eagles and ice cream, gorgeous sunsets and Covid-careful dinners out a couple of times.
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And, ending where we started, with more pet pictures:
 Bed doesn't quite fit ... wait, yes it does |
 Poppy constantly steals Dave's slippers and socks |
 Where'd the cat go? |
 Escapee dogs find a fox den |