Alice Taylor brings the reader with her on her 80th birthday year.

Alice had a big birthday on the horizon, the village was about to celebrate many milestones, and she had just received the gift of a book focusing her on the art of living well. So she decided to write about her year as it unfolded, to keep a journal of the big events, and record the twists and turns normal life brings to all of us in just one year.

But 2018 turned out to be far from normal, with storms, snow blizzards, blistering sun, severe drought and water shortages. She describes the challenges of all these dramatic weather changes.

Alice began the year wondering how she would feel about reaching eighty. She was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was just another milestone on a journey that is still varied and interesting. Here she writes about these feelings, and the many pleasant and challenging events of her eightieth year.