Mike Miclon poses for a photo in the top floor of his two-story workshop in Buckfield, which he built over the summer when he was unable to travel for performances. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
With 2020 in the rearview (objects are closer than they appear) but still fresh in our souls, I asked three “elder” friends to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the new one.
Here are their responses:
Mike Miclon, 53, of Buckfield is executive/artistic director for Johnson Hall Opera House in Gardiner and a performing artist.
Q: What was your survival strategy for 2020?
A: I made the decision to use the time home to build a two-story woodshop and art/craft studio. This has been on my list for a few years and not having to spend two hours each day for round trips to Gardiner, plus being able to condense my workday into mornings, I was able to put in an average of eight hours a day of construction. I am someone who needs something to do, so this really gave me focus during this strange time.
Q: Best and worst of the year for you?
A: By far the worst was the death of my father. This was not COVID related, but COVID made it very difficult to spend the time I normally would have with him over the year, especially the first six months of the year. I would normally have coffee with my parents two to three times a week, and I didn’t go in their house until July. The best was the ability to slow down. I have been on a crank-it-out mode for so many years that this year I had no choice but to dial things back and move at a more reasonable pace. I took a yoga class and learned how to breathe and pause. I have been implementing this into my daily life and I don’t want to go back to breakneck speed again.
Q: What song would define 2020 for you?
A: “Monsters” by James Blunt. It is a song about a son saying goodbye to his father.
Q: What are your hopes and fears for 2021?
A: My hope for this year is that the vaccine will allow us to gather together again. I feel that the last four years, and this past year in particular, have driven us apart. I truly miss the ability to laugh, sing, cheer and be together. It is why I love live theater; it is the great leveler, no matter your economic, religious or political persuasion. It doesn’t matter when we come together as an audience. I miss the connection with people and we need to be together more than ever. My fear is that the divisions we have seen in our country will widen and that what we witnessed at the nation’s Capitol will become more common and more violent.
Q: What would you like to see in the new year?
A: I miss travel so much and I would love to see the world again. My mother lives with us now and we want to take her places she has never been and see things she has never seen. I have been fortunate enough to have been to over 50 countries on four continents, and seeing the world from different perspectives is so refreshing.
Q: What song do you hope will define 2021?
“Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles. It is such a simple song that always makes me feel hopeful.
Heather McCarthy, 65, of Auburn is a retired visual journalist.
Heather McCarthy of Auburn is a retired journalist.
Q: Survival strategy for 2020?
A: I discovered I had perfectly, if inadvertently, created a life just right for quarantining, or “hermitting,” as I call it. My husband and I live on a partially discontinued road, the closed portion of which has been converted to a well-maintained walking trail by Lake Auburn. No driving, no traffic, just roll out the door and get moving. The Whitman Spring Road is no secret, and while sometimes my husband, Bill, and I (and our sometimes badly behaved dog JD) are alone on our treks, more often than not we do see people. Our other survival strategy has been carefully nurtured over four decades. Let me just say, we moved into an unfinished log house 43 years ago. And it’s still not finished. And then there’s the landscaping, furniture rehabbing, house painting, camp painting and the piece de resistance: restoring our 1937 Pontiac 4-door sedan. All this ought to take care of several quarantines.
Q: Best and worst of the year for you?
A: Worst: Doom scrolling. There’s a seemingly never-ending list of stories with sad endings. There is so much death and uncertainty. Best: Spending lots of time with our daughter and four granddaughters, ages 3 to 10, from Massachusetts. We have a family camp in Poland where they came and quarantined for two weeks in early July and they stayed until their school began in mid-September. It was truly a dream summer. We had our own bubble, lots of hiking, being outdoors, cooking and eating outdoors, watching the girls ride horses, eating ice cream, listening to them laugh. It was truly wonderful being with them nearly every day. Second best thing: Curbside pickup groceries. YESSSSSS!
Q: Song that defines 2020?
A: TIE: “Ohio,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Gave me the same chills it did in 1974 when they released the song. 2020 just didn’t feel that far away from ’74. And “What’s Going On,” by Marvin Gay.
Q: Hopes and fears for the new year?
A: More hope, less fear. I hope we can turn this world around so I don’t feel sad about the world my granddaughters will grow up in. Fears: This virus keeps kicking around.
Q: What would you like to see in 2021?
A: People’s mouths!
Q: What song do you hope will define 2021?
A: “Don’t Stop Believing,” Journey. Don’t judge. It makes me happy when I hear it.
Janine Winn, 72, of Temple is retired, an evacuated Peace Corps volunteer and a writer.
Janine Winn as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.
Q: Survival strategy for 2020?
A: Can’t say I’ve really had a strategy. Step by step, I’ve reminded myself that this is temporary, that things will change.
Q: What were the best and worst of 2020 for you?
A: Best of 2020… hmmm … starting a memoir. Getting back into my own home (which I have since sold to my granddaughter.) Planning for the building of a new house. Hopes for 2021: Building a house and reestablishing myself just up the hill. Going back to Ukraine, hopefully with the Peace Corps, on my own if need be. And most importantly, a major shift in the emotional/political/civil national climate. Fear: That the current division and boiling up of violence in the country will only get worse.
Q: What would you like to see in 2021?
A: What I look forward to seeing in the new year is the view from the porch of my new house. And getting to see far-flung friends again.
Winn chose not to pick a song for either year.
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