A Year in the Life: 2014

If asked to define 2014 in a nutshell, I would probably have to dub it the Year of Records and Loss. By "records", I mean that I set a new record for being admitted into a hospital: five in all—one of them in a foreign country. And by "loss", I refer to the passing of my mother after six months in hospice. One would also have to include Terry’s bike accident over the summer. Yes, it was a weird year. But when handed lemons, you make lemonade. Stop and smell the roses. Be grateful. After all, the journey teaches us plenty about our destination.

Metaphors aside, there are some noteworthy things to say about 2014. We shared good times with family and friends. Daredevil Logan shed the training wheels on his mountain bike. Hayden took her first steps. On the work front, Ter changed schools and is now teaching a 5th Grade GATE class, while I got to see the first of several big solar projects that I've been shepherding along be built and energized. We both spent time in the yard with the ongoing landscape project, planting more shrubs (everything you know about drought-tolerant plants is wrong) and installing a hot tub. And even though one or both of us were on the bench for seven months of the year, we still managed to get in some quality time in the Great Outdoors.

Here are a few highlights of our travels and time spent with family. Salute!    

FEBRUARY:  Never leave your camera unattended on the table. Never. At my step-dad Darrell's birthday dinner, Heather and Allie absconded with it and took a series of goofy selfies. Surprise, surprise, when I got home and uploaded the photos. Hmmm.

MARCH:  Here we are, ready to head off to dinner to celebrate Doug’s birthday. Randi moved out in 2013, and Doug moved out last year. So now it’s just Ter and me at home. Suddenly the house seems really really big.

APRIL:  For Terry’s spring break, we hit the trails of Sedona, relishing in some of the best riding in the universe: Arizona sandstone; energy vortexes; killer Margaritas and lipstick sunsets. What else do you need? The trip also marked my first time back in the saddle after my hand surgery. After eight weeks on the bench, I was itchin’ to get out and ride.    

MAY:  Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for getting old and creaky. There’s never a dull moment, they’re always full of life. So where I may be aging on the outside, they keep me young on the inside. The crags and trails are still calling—with Hayden and Logan in tow, I imagine.

JUNE:  For Father’s Day, Heather came down with the kids and we hiked part of the Holy Jim Trail in the Santiago Mountains, followed by lunch at the Rose Canyon Cantina. It was a perfect day.

Terry departs Lunch Ledge for a fun day in the sun on Tahquitz Rock. It felt good to be back climbing again in Idyllwild. My surgery in February had been a success, with most of the feeling returning to the fingertips of my left hand. 

Doug logged his first climb on Tahquitz, leading two of the pitches. It was only his second multi-pitch Grade III ever—his first being the East Face of Mount Whitney, a worthy starting point.

JULY:  Nothing tops summer like a trip to Tuolumne Meadows with the SCMA crew, scaling granite domes by day and swapping tall tales around the campfire at night. 

British Columbia was our destination for summer vacation. First stop was Squamish, where stone monoliths rise out of the forest, taunting you with some incredible climbing—if it’s not raining. We were blessed with some blue-sky days, however, and took advantage of them.

Whistler, BC is the Mecca of mountain-biking, and who would've thought that I would be riding the trails alone. But that’s what happened. Two days earlier, while riding cross-country tracks in Pemberton, Ter took a spill and tore her right ACL, effectively taking her out of action. Then a few days later, while seeing the sights in Victoria, I ended up in the emergency room with a kidney stone attack. I suppose you could say we were checking out the Canadian healthcare system. 

SEPTEMBER:  For Logan’s sixth birthday, Cap’n Ron took him to the Pirate Adventure Show in Buena Park. They bellied up to the bar and ordered one root beer after another; ate an entire roasted chicken with their fingers; growled “Arrrg” all through the show... And pillaged the refrigerator when they got home.  

For Terry’s mom’s 80th birthday bash, the Mulcahy clan gathered in Long Beach for a weekend extravaganza. Ter has seven siblings, and when you include all the spouses and kids, these get-togethers are always lively and loads of fun.  

I came across this old pic of Mom and me while going through her photo albums. After six months in hospice care, she passed away peacefully in Mohave Valley, Arizona. Those long drives out across the desert last year to visit her and Darrell granted me many hours to reflect on the magic and loss in our lives. I love you, Mom.

OCTOBER:   Despite the fact that my main partner, my sweetheart, was laid up with a serious knee injury, and despite the fact that I was battling recurrent kidney stone attacks (morphine is my friend), I still managed to partake in some of the fall climbing season at Joshua Tree. I mean, they don't call it Rocktober for nothing.

Shelby grapples up “Cryptic” on Headstone Rock. Since Doug usually has a weekday free, I switched to climbing during the week. We would head out to Joshua Tree with his girlfriend Brianna and their friends. It was a blast climbing with the Young Guns. (Did I once have this much energy? I can't remember.)

NOVEMBER:  What do you have when you get my daughters and grandkids, along with some of my nephews, nieces and cousins, together for a Thanksgiving portrait? Chaos. Total chaos. I eventually got everyone settled down for a good photo. But in the end, this one is my favorite. 

DECEMBER:  Heather and CJ hosted the Christmas get-together. Lasagna; wine; good cheer; presents under the tree; grandkids scurrying about. It’s that festive time of the year.

Christmas Day found us at home with Doug and Randi and their significant others. The 25th is also Randi’s birthday, so there was cake and ice cream that night.

On the very last day of the year, we explored the old railroad tunnels at Donner Pass, where the high that day was 18 degrees. That night, we rang in the new year at Beth & Tom's place in Truckee. 2015 was upon us.

January 2nd found us aboard Cap’n Jeff’s boat, a few miles off the Santa Barbara coast. It was an opulent, sunny day. The sea was calm. Dolphins frolicked in the water. What a wonderful way to start the new year.

And so, the journey continues…

To see all of the best photos from 2014, go here...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/91696789@N00/sets/72157649837764400/