threeforthememories

Several trees in black and white with a foggy background

I know that for many people 2020 would be the year they'd really like to put behind them. However there was a sense of togetherness that year (however distanced) that offset the awful and stressful events for me.

Instead 2023 has been harder, which has been frustrating. This photo I took a few months ago on a foggy autumn day sums up my mood when looking back. Gloomy.

Layout of a Buffy card game

My partner has had a rough time in his job, which he took on in 2016. It's been long hours, seven days a week, and that got even worse in 2020. But after June this year, things were expected to become a lot more manageable. And they mostly have been -- for him. Instead I ended up becoming much busier rather unexpectedly, so that the together time I'd been hoping for never happened.

The above photo sums up various things. I got that game thinking that with our extra time we could play together more (we're both big fans of Buffy). But (a) the game was not that well designed and (b) that extra time didn't happen. I ended up selling it off and this was one of the photos I took for the sale post.

At year's end it also has another meaning, as a Buffy community I moderated for 19 years closed this year. I know the timing was right as participation has shrunk a lot in the last 5 years. But to me it also signifies the dispersal and disappearance of a group of fans I was part of for some time.

Close up of several frames of bowling scores

Close up of several frames of bowling scores

One upside is a return to bowling. For years we'd been part of a group of people from my partner's job who met twice a month to bowl together. This stopped for 2 years due to the pandemic. While the group resumed meeting in 2022, we didn't go because he just couldn't manage the time.

But back in August we did finally start to bowl again. I was sure I'd be even worse than usual after being so long out of practice. But to my surprise I beat my partner in one game reaching my usual goal of 100 points!

It leaves me hopeful that when my work situation changes again this year, that daily life's going to be better and the opportunity to put my energy elsewhere will return.

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bleodswean

*hugs* I hear you. It's absolutely mind-boggling to me the hows and ways that 2020 seemed to change all the things and catching back up has been nothing short of discouraging. Here's to 2024!