The road home.

 

“Oh, but I know a place where we can go

And wash away this sin

We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by

The tall grass waves in the wind

Just lay your head back on the ground

And let your hair spill all around me

Offer up your best defense

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence.”

If you believe in beginning and endings, at midnight tonight, 2020 is over. Many of us will say, “Thank God,” some of us will say, “Hey we made it, it could be much worse,” and then others will say, “What are you talking about?” If you are one of the last group, where have you been?

It was in the news that a sailor had left from Vancouver in September, 2019 for an around-the-world venture—-alone. One year, and no exposure to what he was missing. Sure he knew about what was going on at home, but he didn’t have to worry about a mask, grocery lines, or six feet of social distancing. He even lost 50 pounds on the journey so he came back healthy and fit. Not too shabby.

It’s been a year to remember, and of course the change in the calendar will only have a mental impact on our lives; but if it were possible to “flick a switch,” this would be the time to do it. Most of us will hopefully go back to many of the things we had done prior to March 12, I just hope that we never have to encounter it again. If we have to, we’ll have a number of masks available.

Just for fun, I would like to travel back to the “good ol’ days” to dream of what was then and what I hope is in front of us. The days of freedom to do what we wanted, to not fear the unknown that may or may not be within an arms distance of us at a particular time, and the ability to photograph, just makes me feel good. (Yes, I had to bring up photography as I really miss it.)

There was an innocence to those days we didn’t recognize until they were no longer available to us; now with a vaccine, I am really hoping we can have part of life back.

The photo above was taken near San Francisco; it was Christmas time, the air was cool, but the surfers didn’t care. They knew there was a place they could go and spend the last days of the year doing what they loved…for me, watching them walk home with the sun setting and photographing the moment, was a perfect way to say good bye.

Thanks for stopping by.