I recently helped a friend set up their Christmas tree. I had a distinct memory of also helping them the previous Christmas, but it definitely didn’t seem like it had been a year since then. This year has been a muddle of lockdowns, unhinged medical guidance, decrepit political leadership, and apparent unpleasant stress on the basic freedoms we have taken for granted for generations. So much of the year seems forgettable. I can whine about how the pandemic had drastically interfered with half of the time I’ve been retired, but in truth, I’ve managed to avoid the harsh downside some people have faced. Despite the hassles and general malaise I did manage to do a few interesting things and have some fun.
On the photography and travel fronts, I’ve had some fun but have been much less active than I would have been if the world wasn’t locked down. Circumstances generated creativity and some of the traveling models started doing remote shoots just to keep working. I participated in one of those in January. It was fun and interesting, and it was a good chance to keep a few photographic brain cells alive. The pandemic-driven travel rules (and their instability) resulted in a planned photo tour to Yucatán México being postponed for what is turning out to be a year. (Hopefully, it comes off next year). However, in a similar timeframe, I got invited to do a nature photography tour in Utah, which was just Dima and me, which turned out very nice. I then got invited to attend a more culture-oriented tour in Hidalgo México, which turned out to be great. So I still got in some photography and international travel.
The theater side of my activities were pretty thin, with only a couple of plays at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. When I traveled back there I took the opportunity to do some more sightseeing than I usually do. Hopefully, things pick up a bit next year. I am, however, finding my interest in some of the festivals is waning — time away has not helped my hunger to get back in some cases. In summary, here are the activity highlights of my year.
- 1 remote photoshoot
- 3 photoshoots at my house
- 1 international photo tour with models
- 1 nature photography photo tour
- 2 live plays (1 Shakespeare, 1 Classical)
Next year is already looking better on the travel and photography front. Hopefully, things keep moving in a positive way. As in the last few year-end summaries I’ve noted I need to make some health-oriented lifestyle changes. I’ve failed in previous years, but now at least have a roadmap, so we’ll see if I can get more fit and more healthy in the coming year.