It’s been a year since I’ve attempted to type out a letter that might draw someone’s attention (hi mom and dad — okay so there’s two)! I suppose if any of us are given the opportunity to write a welcome letter or any sort of reflection, we search for some wisdom to impart. What insight can I share that might make an impression on someone or cause someone to pause? After about three minutes, I realized nobody needs another opinion or advice!

We get opinions from every side, often passed on to us as factual information — and I’m not even touching “fake news.” Who knows what to believe? I don’t consider myself as cynical, but more and more I find myself asking, “so what??” So, instead of pushing more unsolicited opinions or fake news, I decided to research some interesting — and random — tidbits about 2017:

• This year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the world’s richest person — for four hours — thanks to a surge in Amazon stock on July 27, which increased his worth by $1.1 billion to $90.9 billion. It meant he overtook Microsoft’s Bill Gates (who had owned that title for 17 of the past 22 years). By noon the next day, Bezos’s stock had fallen and Gates moved back to the top spot. But, partially thanks to my diligent efforts, Amazon’s stock surged again in October and Bezos has since regained his position as the world’s wealthiest person.

• A University of Texas report found that participants performed 10 percent worse on a memory test and 5 percent worse on a math test when their mobile phones were on their desks, compared with when they were left outside the room. Students even underperformed when the phones were in a bag, which was out of sight but still in the same room. Only Longhorns would spend time researching something like this.

• After a chihuahua was lost on a Welsh mountain for five days when it ran to fetch a stick, a heat-seeking drone found it in 20 minutes. We live in a world where drones find lost chihuahuas.

• The average millennial spends 2.2 days of the year taking selfies — a full hour a week. Meanwhile, the Irish Medical Journal suggested that hospitals should list “selfie-related wrist injury” on admission forms, as it happens so often.

As I said in my letter last year, heading into 2017, there were certainly many uncertainties! If you’re reading this now, then you survived another year of chaos and questions. So, here’s to a very blessed, healthy and happy 2018. Please, no selfie-related injuries.

My Very Best,

Sara Hill
Director of Advertising
Cordillera Ranch Living