It seems that I always say this, and surely, it is a sign that I am getting old. Yet, it warrants saying anyway: it really is hard to believe how quickly this year passed.
As the winter season meted away by late March, it was incredible to think that the year was already a quarter of the way done. Then, just like that, school let out, summer was here, and half the year was gone away. Not too much later after that - and not too long ago as I write this - it was the end of September and the summer season, and the year was three-quarters done.
Now, Christmas is already past, and the countdown to the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 had begun.
So, how was 2018? What will we remember from it in terms of news stories? How will I, personally, remember this year?
Well, obviously, Donald Trump made this year about himself to the extent possible. Despite more than two years since he "won" the election (although he lost the popular vote - Only in America!), it still both shocks and depresses me that such a pathetic man-child actually sits in the Oval Office as the elected face and voice of the nation. Let's not even bother to get into the specifics of his idiocy this year, because I would not have had the time to document all of that if I had begun this from January 1st of 2018. Suffice to say, he continued to polarize the nation, and to embarrass the nation in front of the entire world. Perhaps the most telling moment was when he was laughed at to his face while making a speech before the United Nations. He admitted that he had not been expecting that kind of a reaction, as if he believed that every audience would mirror the blind loyalty to him that he gets at his ridiculous rallies. But then, he and FOX News tried to spin this story, to make it seem that the United Nations was laughing with Trump, even though his own surprise quite clearly contradicted this. As President Trump often says: Fake News!
The war in Syria finally seemed to more or less see reduced tensions, although this seemed to coincide with increased violence, and a new humanitarian crisis, in Yemen. A Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was critical of his country's manner of conducting that war, and the horrific ramifications that it had on the people in Yemen, who were on the verge of a massive famine that was completely man-made. But Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, drawing worldwide condemnation and sanctions. It became a huge international incident, even though the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman seemed almost surprised that the incident received any attention at all, let alone such a storm of negative publicity the world over.
In November, much of the world marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. This was particularly notable, since the world seems to be sliding closer towards tensions that could see another huge war, and potentially another world war, break out. Many noted the trend towards fascism, with Donald Trump (who refused to speak honoring the soldiers during the 100th anniversary because it was raining) here in the United States, President Recep Erdoğan in charge in Turkey, President Rodrigo Duterte in charge in the Philippines, and Jair Bolsonaro, a man most often compared with Trump, winning the presidency in Brazil.
The war in Syria finally seemed to more or less see reduced tensions, although this seemed to coincide with increased violence, and a new humanitarian crisis, in Yemen. A Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was critical of his country's manner of conducting that war, and the horrific ramifications that it had on the people in Yemen, who were on the verge of a massive famine that was completely man-made. But Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, drawing worldwide condemnation and sanctions. It became a huge international incident, even though the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman seemed almost surprised that the incident received any attention at all, let alone such a storm of negative publicity the world over.
In November, much of the world marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. This was particularly notable, since the world seems to be sliding closer towards tensions that could see another huge war, and potentially another world war, break out. Many noted the trend towards fascism, with Donald Trump (who refused to speak honoring the soldiers during the 100th anniversary because it was raining) here in the United States, President Recep Erdoğan in charge in Turkey, President Rodrigo Duterte in charge in the Philippines, and Jair Bolsonaro, a man most often compared with Trump, winning the presidency in Brazil.
The biggest positive news, for me, was France winning the World Cup. That was an incredible event for us, since we are Franco-Americans, and watched the final between France and Croatia all together as a family. What a game! What memories, even though it did not top actually being there the first time that they won it in 1998, when my brother and I were actually in France. Still, what a treat to see them win it again, even if they were outplayed in most of the actual final game. That was particularly true for almost the first 60 minutes, when Croatia seemingly owned every advantage, except for the scoreboard. Then, France got a small flurry of goals to effectively ice the game - a game that could easily have gone the other way.
🏆
🇫🇷
⚽ On est les Champions ! 🏆🇫🇷⚽
Ah, some nice memories there!
Another memorable news story that helped to define 2018 was the yellow vest strike in France, which came in recent weeks, actually. Workers there were tired of the elitist President Emmanuel Macron cutting taxes on the rich and effectively making everyone else pay for it with a gasoline tax that was officially targeting climate emissions, but which French workers felt was actually his way of making up for the lost revenue with the tax cuts to the rich. Macron had to offer concessions, which was seen by most observers as a win for the protesters.
But for me, 2018 will be remembered for other things, as well. This was an up and down year, which was quite tumultuous at times. There were significant highlights and low-lights, if you will. More than most years, I would say, and this helped to define this year, at least in my personal memory. I cannot remember a year when there were such high high's, and low low's, if you know what I mean.
One of the best things was another western trip, which was the third one that my son and I have taken in the past three or so years, dating back to the Arizona trip of 2015. We visited Arizona then, including the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, the southwestern desert, Tombstone, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, with a side excursion to Nogales, Mexico. In 2016, we would visit some of these same things in Arizona again, since we had enjoyed it so much. But we had a much bigger and longer trip, making a figure 8 around Las Vegas, where we both landed and left from. We had visited Rachel, Nevada (by Area 51), Yosemite, San Francisco, the Redwoods, the Mojave Desert, the Grand Canyon (the North Rim this time), the southwestern corner of Colorado, including the San Juan range of the Rockies and Mesa Verde, and another excursion to Nogales, before heading back up to the Las Vegas lights, although we also stopped at the Hoover Dam. We even got a day in the Dallas-Fort Wort area of Texas.
This year, we went out west again, but a bit further north. We landed in Denver on August 20th, and headed straight up to Cheyenne, Wyoming that same night. The main focus of the first half of the trip was Yellowstone National Park, as well as the Grand Tetons. There were some unbelievable things that neither of us had seen anything like before! We also experienced literally freezing temperatures on that first night, which was new to the both of us. We got amazingly close to buffalo, including one that passed right next to our car as we were driving one evening. Then, as the trip shifted to concentrate on Colorado for the second half, we visited Boulder and Ward, a town with an elevation of over 10,000 feet! We ate at an old western gold mining town, Gold Hill, that has become a very interesting, modern kind of town that has retained that Old West kind of look and feel, and ate one of the best meals that I remember ever having at the Gold Hill Inn. We enjoyed the Garden of the Gods at Colorado Springs, and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings nearby. We enjoyed a day in the Mile High City of Denver, and then visited the Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for the haunted hotel of Stephen King's "The Shining," made most famous by Stanley Kubrick's movie by the same name), before essentially closing out our trip by visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park. Here are some of the best pictures from that trip:
But for me, 2018 will be remembered for other things, as well. This was an up and down year, which was quite tumultuous at times. There were significant highlights and low-lights, if you will. More than most years, I would say, and this helped to define this year, at least in my personal memory. I cannot remember a year when there were such high high's, and low low's, if you know what I mean.
One of the best things was another western trip, which was the third one that my son and I have taken in the past three or so years, dating back to the Arizona trip of 2015. We visited Arizona then, including the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, the southwestern desert, Tombstone, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, with a side excursion to Nogales, Mexico. In 2016, we would visit some of these same things in Arizona again, since we had enjoyed it so much. But we had a much bigger and longer trip, making a figure 8 around Las Vegas, where we both landed and left from. We had visited Rachel, Nevada (by Area 51), Yosemite, San Francisco, the Redwoods, the Mojave Desert, the Grand Canyon (the North Rim this time), the southwestern corner of Colorado, including the San Juan range of the Rockies and Mesa Verde, and another excursion to Nogales, before heading back up to the Las Vegas lights, although we also stopped at the Hoover Dam. We even got a day in the Dallas-Fort Wort area of Texas.
This year, we went out west again, but a bit further north. We landed in Denver on August 20th, and headed straight up to Cheyenne, Wyoming that same night. The main focus of the first half of the trip was Yellowstone National Park, as well as the Grand Tetons. There were some unbelievable things that neither of us had seen anything like before! We also experienced literally freezing temperatures on that first night, which was new to the both of us. We got amazingly close to buffalo, including one that passed right next to our car as we were driving one evening. Then, as the trip shifted to concentrate on Colorado for the second half, we visited Boulder and Ward, a town with an elevation of over 10,000 feet! We ate at an old western gold mining town, Gold Hill, that has become a very interesting, modern kind of town that has retained that Old West kind of look and feel, and ate one of the best meals that I remember ever having at the Gold Hill Inn. We enjoyed the Garden of the Gods at Colorado Springs, and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings nearby. We enjoyed a day in the Mile High City of Denver, and then visited the Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for the haunted hotel of Stephen King's "The Shining," made most famous by Stanley Kubrick's movie by the same name), before essentially closing out our trip by visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park. Here are some of the best pictures from that trip:
Ah, some great memories just by perusing through those pictures, which brought back some great memories from that trip!
There was one other pretty big trip that we took a few months later/ In November, we went to visit my brother, who had recently moved to the Adirondacks. We stayed at his place in Port Henry, and got a day trip to Montréal in the bargain. We also got to enjoy the first snowfall of the season, although it luckily did not inconvenience as much as all in terms of driving conditions. It did make for some spectacular mountain scenery, though:
There was one other pretty big trip that we took a few months later/ In November, we went to visit my brother, who had recently moved to the Adirondacks. We stayed at his place in Port Henry, and got a day trip to Montréal in the bargain. We also got to enjoy the first snowfall of the season, although it luckily did not inconvenience as much as all in terms of driving conditions. It did make for some spectacular mountain scenery, though:
We also took a trip to my old family town of Liberty, New York. This was where my grandparents on my mother's side resided, and it is where my aunt (my mom's sister) still lives. We enjoyed our visit, and my son got to know the town that was such an important place for our family for a very long time. He really seemed to enjoy it there! Here is a picture of him by the sign in town:
He and I went to some concerts, too:
Robert Plant, June
Paul Simon, September
Smashing Pumpkins, August
Live and Counting Crows, August
Deborah Bonham, Ann Wilson, Jeff Beck and Paul Rodgers, August
More great memories, these also with my son!
I went to a few signing events, including a couple with former members of the New York Giants. But the biggest signing event was an author signing event with former President Jimmy Carter:
President Jimmy Carter, who turned 94 years old this year!
My son began to actively post videos on Youtube. Here was one such instance, the "Hot Pepper Challenge:"
I went to a few signing events, including a couple with former members of the New York Giants. But the biggest signing event was an author signing event with former President Jimmy Carter:
President Jimmy Carter, who turned 94 years old this year!
My son began to actively post videos on Youtube. Here was one such instance, the "Hot Pepper Challenge:"
The Hot Pepper Challenge (make and 1 face)
My son also enjoyed his last day of 6th grade in June. We took a hike on that day, and he wore his France jersey that his grandpa (my father) got him:
Of course, he did have to return back to school in September. His smile seemed a lot more forced:
There was also some sad news in 2018, as my first dog, Max (my girlfriend had him for 13 years!) was put to sleep in August. He had lost his vision years before, but was losing his hearing, and I am almost positive that he was losing his sense of smell, as well, although there was, and is, no way to prove that. But we had a cat visiting at that point in time, something that would not have failed to draw his ire not long before, and he did not notice her at all, except for one time when she rubbed against him. But Max will be missed. Here are some pictures of him:
So, there you have it. Like all years, 2018 was a year of ups and downs, both in terms of world events, as well as on a personal level.
But 2018 is over now, or just about. 2019 is almost here. Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year in 2019!
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