What a year, eh?
We probably all entered into this year with a sense of optimism tinging the question “What will the new decade hold for us?”
Turns out the answer wasn’t what any of us expected.
But here we are, at the end of a rather long and amorphous year that feels like five years wrapped into one. The days blurred into each other, we found ourselves not knowing that day of the week it was, and the months blew by like a windstorm.
People we thought were smart turned out to be …well…maybe not-so-much. There are still those out there that, completely illogically, think it’s all a government conspiracy and mask wearing is for fools….and I was unfriended by at least one or two for not seeing the world through their shared warped windshield.
I’m ok with that…..
Back in early March, Kirk headed to the US for a work trip and I scheduled three weeks of vacation. On March 12th, my last day of work and the day before Kirk was to return from Chicago, the Federal Public Officer announced that anyone returning to Canada, from anywhere, would need to self isolate for two weeks.
Suddenly I went from a quiet evening alone before picking Kirk up the next afternoon, to rushing out to pick up groceries for a two week stay-at-home for two since I would also need to isolate.
I stopped in the office on the morning of the 13th to pick up a few things, assuming I probably wouldn’t be coming back to work on April 1st as planned. I’d already seen the writing on the wall.
Kirk arrived home on Friday the 13th and that was the day that everything went sideways.
I never went back to the office (other than a couple of after hours visits to pick up books and papers and my computer peripherals) and, other than a few field days back in the late summer and early fall….I haven’t seen any of my co-workers face to face since.
Kirk and I transitioned to working from home with a few pains, and eventually he went back to the office two days a week…until Early December when he decided that it was time to find something new to do. He gave notice at work and, technically today was his last day of work …although he’s been on holidays for the past three weeks. He starts something new late next month.
I started 2020 with the decision to undertake a 365 photography challenge; it had been about four years since I’d done one and I thought I needed a creative kick. But I sure picked the wrong year to do it.
When I started the 365 Photo Project I never dreamed I’d largely be restricted to taking photos in the yard and around the house. We took walks when the weather was good, and we wandered the beach a few times. But by and large, I probably photographed every flower that bloomed in my garden.
I actually didn’t realize I had planted that many things that put out flowers. I’m not really much of a flower person…I garden for texture, movement, and shades of green.
I’m officially sick of photographing flowers….except that I will still point the camera at one more flowering thing tomorrow…for a friend..because I’m a good friend…even though she will probably swear at me for my effort.
I thought about quitting, many times….but I managed to continue and post something every day for one year. Not every image had thought behind it, some were reflexive, and some just sucked. Once or twice I cheated and used an image taken a day or two earlier and processed on the day in question. But I also promised at the outset that I would be kind to myself and not beat myself up for such cheats…they would not constitute failure.
I did it, it’s done, and I won’t be doing another in 2021…I’ll find some other reason to pick up the camera and write random thoughts that may or may not relate to those images.
And so here we are, on image 366 of 365 – on top of it all, it had to be a leap-year to add an extra day to an already unimaginable year – and I thought about how to end this.
Not everyone survived, in fact, close to 2 million people around the world, as a direct result of SARS-CoV-19, did not survive.
So, not to make light of that fact, but also to attest to the reality that none of us came out of this completely intact either…here is a little series of images, featuring my muse Wall-E, that provide a bit of a feeling about the end of 2020.
You did it! You made it through 2020! Here’s your Certificate of Completion! 
Congratulations on successfully making it to the end of the weirdest year in our lifetime! 
You’ve made it through …..mostly intact…..with a little bit of damage…. 
Thanks…but let’s just bin this year and move forward…to a hopefully better one ahead.
What I am eternally grateful for is that, although one or two did contract the virus and it remains to be seen what long term impacts result, my friends and family have stayed safe and hopefully will continue to.
Let’s bid this mess goodbye and look forward to a better year ahead. It will be a bumpy start but, if we are lucky and we all work cooperatively, things will start to smooth out as we head towards the second half of 2021.
Stay safe everyone, and stay healthy. I look forward to seeing you and raising a glass together, in person, less than six feet apart…when this is all over.