2013: It's a Wrap... Mostly Back to Normal

I've been so caught up in the #darkTO experience that I haven't really given enough thought to what 2013 has been like now that it's coming to a close and what I might dare dream of for 2014. High time to fix that!

A timeline in one thought per decade:
1970 (death), 1980 (separation), 1990 (rebirth), 2000 (professional growth), 2010 (personal growth), 2020 (who knows?)
There have been a handful of landmark moments between these and after... life's lessons, first hand experiences. 

2013:
Starting at the end and working back...
We have power, back on the grid, happy to be getting back to some sense of normality.
For a while, I was concerned that our house might make it to "the elite 1%", that exceptional minority that has everything to excess. Except this would have been the inverse... the remaining one percent of 300,000 homes to still be without power. It was a tough and insightful experience, and we only got down as far as the 8% mark. Personally that is how I will look back on this year. There have been a few other experiences as tough, not sure any have taught me more though.

This past week+ has been exceptional, unprecedented in all of my experience. And it fits right into what my 2013 has been like.
My year started out with some firsts... my first time in Louisville (Jan/Feb), first time covering CX world championships, first time traveling with someone else at the wheel. Those firsts were awesome. And seeing how the Louisville organization dealt with their impending catastrophe was something to behold! Imagine working at that level and having to deal with a flood that would cancel day 2 before it got started. Day 2 that would have the most important race of the whole weekend. And pulling it off as if there wasn't any doubt about it. I'm still impressed almost a year later.
Then there was April in North Carolina. Not the first time there, first time leaving the way we did though. First time I broke my neck, at least that I know of. And first time Andrea drove Babe that much and in some challenging places. Add a halo neck brace to the mix once we got back, followed by 9 months of learning... this is getting closer to what my year has been like. By comparison, the ice storm and a week of dealing with some limitations was a piece of cake. And yet... I got very tired of being limited even more than I had been. Enough is enough. It's been a year of learning about things I hadn't considered before.
Between an exciting start and a frozen end, there's been a "well, that happened" year. I'll stop trying to explain it away, it just happened.

2014:
Well...
It will start with more physio, I'm not where I expected to be by now so I'll keep working at it.
The contract I took (another learning experience) will come to an end in March and I've already decided I won't renew... I miss all of the things I got to experience and learn as 2011/2012 shaped my next chapter. My calendar is filling up quickly and it doesn't include being in an office.
My plans start with a trip to Moab in April instead of a trip back to NC. Nothing is finalized yet, even though most of the spring and summer are already mapped out (I have potential trips and events listed on my KraikerPhoto calendar (on Google). A spring trip west, much of the summer in central Canada and the norther U.S., September in Quebec, a few music festivals along the way, and I assume there will be some unexpected events (as there almost always are).
I'm less concerned about what or where, I'm more interested in being able to actually be there. Where-ever "there" is or whatever it is.

Yup.
I'm happy to be here. And that's one thought I've kept close for decades now. I will live 2014 in the moment. No change there...

I'll close by saying, simply:
Happy new year! I hope 2014 is filled with unexpected treasures and pleasures.