Merry Christmas!... and shop update

It's been a long while since I've posted on the blog and more than a few people have reached out to me to wish me well and inquire how I'm doing.  Thank you.  I thought others might like to hear why things have been quiet and what the future holds.

But first, Merry Christmas!  Although today is December 26th, it's actually the 2nd day of Christmas, so I'm not late to the party after all.  In fact, Christmas is celebrated for 10 more days and ends on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th.

Did you know that Christmas is celebrated by 95% of Americans?

What a year this has been, huh?  On a personal note, this has been a banner year... I've had one child graduate college, another graduate high school, and we picked up stakes in Pennsylvania and moved to Virginia. 

What else happened in 2020?  Oh that's right, that little thing called COVID-19.  Boy did that change everything.

As I've reflected on a theme for my annual Christmas post, I thought the following Hamilton advertisement was inspiring.  We shall ride this storm through...

The birth of Christ celebrates God's gifts of Faith, Hope and Love to humanity and regardless of your religious persuasion, I hope you can experience those gifts first hand in these most desperate times.

There is tremendous hope that our collective scientific community will develop new vaccines and treatments to beat this disease.  That hope is well founded, but it will take time to develop the scale needed to reach everyone, everywhere.

Faith gives us hope and faith is what you need to accept a vaccine into your body.  You have to believe in the science inside the vial... no one wants to hear their doctor say, "well, here goes, I hope this works."

Of course, some folks don't believe in science.  Some don't believe we've been to the moon either, even though there are pictures!

I jest, of course, the astronauts didn't remove their helmets on the moon, as this NASA training image might suggest, but the point is true nonetheless.

Love is the most plentiful of God's gifts to see in a COVID-world today.  You'll see it in every healthcare worker, in every hospital, in every town.  

One way that YOU can show these values is to wear a mask.  Wearing a mask demonstrates you care enough about others that you're willing to protect the most vulnerable in our community by slowing the progress of this disease.  It also shows that you're willing to have faith and hope while we ride this storm through together.

As for a shop update... as I mentioned, we moved to Virginia mid-year.  We've been living in a townhouse in the Shenandoah Valley with the majority of our "stuff" in storage - including all of my workshop materials.  I took great care to move my workshop myself and it was the first of our belongings to go into storage.  That also means it's the furthest from the door and the hardest to get to.  So I haven't worked on a watch in months!

We last moved in 2007 and that was a long enough time ago for us to completely forget how painful it is to move everything you own.  Plus, we managed to acquire a LOT more stuff since 2007.  

Moving is a great opportunity to focus on what's important to you.  We sold a lot of things and we've been patiently waiting for just the right place to come on the market... something with nice mountain views, not too large, not too small, something with a nice workspace, not too long of a drive to work, etc.   

The good news is we've finally found it.  We have a contract on a new home and should be ready to move in late February.  With a little luck and a bit of effort, I should have my workshop back online by March.  

Maybe that's something we can all look forward to a little.  I've got quite a few watch projects waiting for some TLC.

I'll close this annual post with an Irish Christmas blessing:

May you be blessed with the spirit of the season, 

which is peace, 

the gladness of the season,

 which is hope, 

and the heart of the season, 

which is love.

Best wishes for a better 2021!