It's the last day of the year and of the 21st Century's second decade. Tomorrow begins a new one and I for one am looking forward to it. You might wonder why given all the unrest in the world. Well, first and foremost, Christ is sovereign. Me stressing over things I have no control over doesn't do me any good at all. Things are going to happen, good and bad, and it's my job to adapt and deal with reality - the way things are. Will I hope for better? Yes. While I am a recovering cynic and don't have high expectations, I look forward to surprising good things that will happen.

Besides, yesterday was a particularly good day because I got to witness my nephew Aidan take the oath to defend his country via the Air Force. He's going in under the delayed entry program and will be entering basic training some time in the late summer or early fall, 2020. It's young men and women like him that give me hope for the future. My generation (the "boomers") tend to rag on the millenials and kids as being shiftless, good-for-nothings. But I don't see it that way. The younger people I come into contact with are bright and caring people who want to change the world for the better. Like us older people they have their fair share of idiots, but they'll work around them. Hopefully they won't elect too many of them like we have! (that's a joke, by the way).

Also this year will be pretty awesome for my favorite hobby, riding motorcycles. It's the year of the dualsport for me as I have two awesome trips planned already. As mentioned in an earlier blog I'm planning to return to Death Valley in April. I've been creating GPS tracks and keeping the six of us that are going informed of the different options I'm finding. Since my brother and I have been there before, we're sort of acting as tour guides and I want to provide as many options as I can for us to choose from. The second trip I'm planning is to do the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route sometime during the summer. The IDBDR runs north/south with a slight east/west around Lolo and will take us eight to ten days to complete. I've been following threads on it and it will be another epic trip to compare with the WABDR I took in 2017.

The one thing I haven't yet figured out is where my wife Vicki and I will go this year. Last year we went to Germany, but our daughter who lives there will be visiting us here this spring (another highlight for 2020). I'll figure that out too though. Spending time with Vicki traveling and seeing stuff is always the best part of any year. She's my best friend and there's nothing to compare to that on this earth.

So I'm looking forward to 2020. It'll be full of all sorts of interesting and fun things, and yes there will probably be sad things that happen too. But that's what makes the good things so precious. We live a rich life that is one full of the spectrum of possibilities. The attitude we choose to take in our life usually affects our success in life, as the Navy Lt. Commander told my nephew yesterday. Taking a positive attitude in life is good advice for all of us. May you look forward to the possibilities in front of you!

Happy New Year!!!