That Was Quick

Although it seems like it just started, 2014 is drawing to a close.  For as short as it seemed, it was just as sweet. In that spirit, here is a short but sweet year in review...

2014 was a year of travel. Between youth sports, work and personal travel, I’ve been everywhere, man. (In my best Johnny Cash voice)…I’ve been to… New Orleans, Des Moines, Grinnel, Cedar Rapids, Malaga, Granada, Algona, Madison, Montgomery, West Lafayette, Nashville, Columbus, Cambridge, Cordoba, Atlanta, Newark, Knoxville, Auburn, St. Louis, Tuscaloosa, San Jose, Quepos, Birmingham, Boston, Manuel Antonio, Seaside, Chicago, Cincinnati, Davenport, Sidney, South Pittsburgh, Miami, Huntsville, Pachuta…I’ve been everywhere. My friends who are real travelers might scoff at my puny list, but for me, that’s a lot of ground to cover. I didn’t mind at all though- the family accompanied me on many of those trips, and I’ve vaulted up the Delta Medallion chart.

I suspect that the blog has suffered for my travels. This may be true, but I spent some time this morning reviewing the past year of posts, and there are some decent ones in there. Over the past four years I have found a curious pattern. The posts I think are great receive little attention, and the ones I don’t think much of tend to be the ones that the get the most play. This year was no different.

The most viewed post of the year was the one in response to the silly donut mural kerfuffle. Let the record show that the numbers were not due to my writing prowess or insight, but the fact that David Cook linked to it somewhere along the line. (This was one of the humbling reminders that while I feel chuffed to be dealing in hundreds of readers, the real writers deal in thousands and tens of thousands).

The Summer of Sullivan was a tremendous experience. I read everything I could about the man, then traveled the Midwest see his extant works. A lot of great things happened this year, and this experience is near the top of that list. Writing about it as the summer unfolded was one of the great experiences of my life.

There was, of course, plenty to write about here in the Scenic City. I wrote a post in January celebrating all of the great projects that were in the offing for downtown. (Twelve months later a similar list of projects would be more real and more impressive.) A few months later, I told you what I want. And, toward the end of the year we had a little fun. 

Looking into the 'ol crystal ball, it appears that next year will be a big one for downtown. I agree with Ms. White, it appears that 2015 will be the Year of the Crane. Bring it on!