To be caught off guard: Taking Inventory, 2009
In chronological order, here are my 10 favorite surprises of 2009.
1. Mary and Max
This was my first Sundance experience. Little did I know how hard I’d cry or how much I would learn about my own family.
2. Wow. This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen while traveling. Hit the links and join my parents on a groovy trip through time and space.
3. A legend
I’m ashamed to admit I wasn’t expecting much. But this musician blew me away. He is the best reason I can think of to take a chance on a $70 concert ticket.
4. A rusty wonder of evolution
A beautiful ruin is what you might miss if you don’t take the time to stop. This is just one of Hanksville’s many secrets.
Just so Theresa knows, someone last week referred to her as “The One Who Jumped Over The River.” Also, she tells the best campfire stories.
6. Rainy
A stranger got me through my worst day of 2009.
7. Back story
A Korean grandpa explains what really went into his granddaughter’s first birthday party.
8. A year
This year Said Guy and I moved in together, made room for each other’s stuff, lost a beloved pet and gained familiarity. But he still hasn’t stopped surprising me.
I thought we’d find stick figures and rainbows on the cliffs at McConkie Ranch.
Turns out the Fremont were more about severed, crying heads.
I just wanted to get to the top of the mountain behind my house. What I found there was a holy place for a lot of believers. In church, the confessional is a cramped, dark box of a room. Some of us prefer the hills — where the sinner is small, the house is big and we’re all still lower than a dead little baby.
Here’s to another year of what we don’t know yet.
holidays | Erin Alberty | 
December 31, 2009 10:58 am
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By secret agent woman, December 31, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
I like the sound of the mystery in that!
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By SKM, December 31, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
Loved this – hoping to get mine done before year-end or else it will be written tomorrow.
Ran into one of my Malta peeps at Barnes & Noble today. I am grinning so hard right now and I’m trying to not tear up thinking about how wonderful and random life can be at times. I share this with you, because I think you understand. Hell – you write about these random connections every day.
I hope you have a wonderful 2010.
xoxo
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By wenderina, December 31, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
Erin, this was great. I actually hit every link to go back and read your memories…amazing how they both accumulate in such a significant pile, and yet if you don’t take the time to look back, they just disappear. An eventful year to be sure…here’s to 2010.
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