20/30

When a year starts, you never know what’s in store. You can only hope for the best.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of an amazing trip my wife and I took to South America. We left on Jan. 11, 1985 from Vancouver, BC, and landed in Buenos Aires. For the next three months, we wandered by train, bus and airplane through Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. We were in Rio for Carnivale. We had hoped to go to Chile, but it was a time of civil and political unrest; in short, we were told that Americans were not welcome. We hope, 20 years later, to commemorate that trip with a trip to Vietnam. April looks to be our month for this new, magnificent sojourn. We may not be as wide-eyed as we were in 1985, but the excitement of new adventure will be in place, nonetheless.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of my college graduation. Big Whoopa-de-doo. I graduated Muhlenberg College in 1975, and I don’t stay in touch with anyone from my graduating class. I trade emails with one friend from the class of ’76, and do hope to see him and join him at a Washington Nationals game this year. I’d say the 30th reunion is a low priority on my list.

As for what else the year holds in store, I await to cosmos to provide answers. 2004 had some great surprises and some less than great ones as well. You can only hope for the best.