2016 Bonfire

2016 started off as a pretty good year, but in mid-October it tanked. On the 18th Don learned he was being laid off from Comcast. On the 19th he officially scheduled his open heart surgery. The mood around the house soured. Ashley didn't get into the first two plays. For the first time she had to really study, and even that wasn't a guarantee of straight As. She had her first Bs since 3rd grade when she adjusted to traditional school after being homeschooled for two years. My freelance work all but dried up. 

As much as we tried to focus on the positive (everyone was still alive, and Don has been recovering nicely post-surgery), we still struggle with why hasn't he gotten any nibbles on his job search? How can I focus on building a business when much of my energy is going to building up Don and Ashley? Why did Hillary Clinton win the popular vote, yet still lose to Donald Trump? What will having the Republicans in charge of EVERYTHING do to our country?

It is with the backdrop of these feelings of frustration that the annual Hogamany bonfire took place. Let me back up, first we went to the one taking place during Patriot's Week. It looked like this:

See the bonfire on the far right?

The roaring bonfire I was expecting was barely had a flame in the backyard BBQ.

This is what we are used to seeing:

Even this seemed smaller than we are used to seeing. We arrived as it was being lit. We found out due to the heavy winds they wanted us to stay away further and requested we hand our notes to the firemen before it was lit. Fortunately once things settled down we were allowed to add them to the fire. On the positive, we were encouraged to add our WISHES for 2017, and not just our GRIPES about 2016.

Ashley went to Maia's house. We met up with Nancy and Nate. Also saw Angela and her family, Melissa, and Michael and Rachel. It seemed to be a quieter crowd than usual. It also seemed to burn down faster than usual, fortunately it did not burn into the adjacent woods.

Here are a few pictures: