This is not an official review of world events in 2013. Not even an account of celebrity marriages, divorces or babies. This is a quick review of my year. As witnessed by the birds. Who’ve kept me company over the year (as my regular readers know). I trust they’ll keep me honest.

January: Pleasant holiday season. With granddaughter time. New Year fireworks.  Followed by January 2nd fireworks. Kick start of a big project. In Africa. Skype heating up. Emails splashing. A family visit at the end of the month. Well deserved R & R.

February : Lots of work. Tons of reading. Mid-winter on the Gulf Coast. A short visit to Rome. A trip to Africa.  Stuck in a snow storm. In Germany. Long days. Longer nights. Too many hotel points. Life’s getting foggy.

March: Sunny and cool (everything’s relative)! Lots of research. Picking seeds in the sand. Running with the projects. Interesting stuff to explore. Too much of it. Drive to visit family. Old SUV soon to be retired. Unpleasant conclusion. But hey, everything has its time.

April: Spring! Gorgeous weather. Outside my office window. A quick visit to Paris. Rainy and cool. Another trip to Africa late in the month. Sand storm. Strong coffee. Busy, busy. Will need a secretary(bird)!

May: Cold plunge. Nose dive. Hubby to hospital. Drama. Pause. Heart surgery. All goes well. Convalescence. Family time.  Finally up for air at end month. Thank God!

June: Good news! Son’s leg finally healed. After bone graft surgery nine months earlier. Running, or at least walking. Another thank you note sent. Son also visits. New SUV helps get up to speed. Wallet much lighter. Less to carry. More reliably.

July: Work-filled month! Tightly at home base now. Good overview of deadlines. No reason to worry. Just watch and fly. Food is abundant.

August: Relatively smooth sailing! Hot. Sweaty. Also on work front. Frequent trips to the ocean. Hubby’s birthday. Reason to be thankful. Turning towards fall. Very slowly.

September: The month of family gatherings! Dad’s 90th birthday celebration in northern Europe. A privileged occasion. Seeing “everybody and his uncle”. Hugs. Sauna baths. Wonderful time. Own birthday late in the month. Multi-day observance. Family. Friends. Lobsters and roses.

October: Biggest project complete! Contemplating. Planning. Deciding to take a break. Do NaNoWriMo. For the first time.  Not one of the usual professional publications. A novel. That’s fresh. And scary.

November: Writing. Flying high. Flying low. Flap, flap. Feeling humble. Quitting. Restarting. Getting to 50K words before the end of the month. Phew! A manuscript on the table. “Only” editing remains. Lots more flaps. Necessary. Whenever.

December: Editing, working, preparing. A new project. A tree. Baking! Traditional foods. Granddaughter time. Eating much. Moving little. Praying more. Looking back. Reflecting. Was each day lived to its full potential? Probably not. But that’s the best I could do. So be it. Still learning. Optimistic. Thankful.