With a new decade starting in a few hours, I am kind of relieved that 2019 is coming to an end. It was a shit year or as the Queen once called it an “Annus horribilis”. And from that point of view, 2020 can only get better. In January my father has been admitted to hospital from one second to the next without any warning and for him, it was not clear if he would come out alive again. He did, but life isn´t the same now with all the meds he has to take and his illness getting worse.
In February we heard the sad news that Rosamunde Pilcher had died. Her novels were made into TV movies and in Germany, she is quite famous for her love for Cornwall and her various books.
April was the months where I watched together with millions of others with growing shock and horror how the world’s most famous Cathedral Notre Dame was partly destroyed by flames. Its famous wood framework collapsed, and the also famous wood tower no longer exists. I can still see the yellow and orange flames, the powerful fire that lightened up the skies in the night from April 15th to April 16th and destroyed what others had built hundreds of years ago.
The summer of 2019 was hot, but not as hot as the summer of 2018. According to German meteorologists, it has been the third hottest summer since the weather recordings started in 1881. And the debate about climate change has reached a level where it has become quite clear that we can´t go on the way we´re used to. For me personally, it means that I thought about what I can do to bring my share of Environmental awareness into the game. 2020 will be a game-changer for me on that front and I hope that I will be at least a bit successful.
Germany celebrated in October the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Thirty years after they opened the wall, we still face some differences between East and West.
A broken pipe in one of my bathroom walls gave me during the past two months a growing nightmare and some sleepless nights. Both problems are fixed now but I know that I will take some of the dust and dirt from it into the new year. Oh well …
2019 was also the year I lost some dear friends. One of them was not even 50 and had to leave his wife and family behind. Why do the Good have to die so young?
As always, I have not really set any New Year´s resolutions for me. I am not the kind of person who can make them real, spoken about health, fitness or other things. At the beginning of 2019, I had started to change some of my old habits, and I will continue doing so in 2020. Healthier food, more sport, and less sugar among some other things are on my list and I hope that I will continue my efforts I´ve started in 2019.
When it comes to books, bookish things or my reading habits, I have to say that I didn´t read as many books as I´ve done in recent years. Somehow it took me sometimes longer to read a book or to write my review about it as I was used to the years before. But reading and blogging is still my passion and so I see no reason why that should change in 2020. I will do some challenges during the year as every year and the New Release Challenge is one of them.
For now, I say goodbye to 2019 and hope you will have a healthy and well New Year´s Eve and a great start into 2020.
Happy New Year
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