A photographic look back at 2020 from my view of the road. The Pandemic. The lost year. A year to remember. A year to forget.
Like everyone else in the world, we began this past year with high hopes and anticipation, only to be smacked in the head by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Here’s a quick look back at each month of this past year. For me, my memories of the past are often related to the photographs I took. I don’t want to bore you with too many home photos, as they are my memories, not yours, but home life has been the forefront of my existence since March.
As the 2020 new year began, life was fairly normal here in Denver. I started the year off on a sad note when my dear friend Merlin passed away on December 29th, 2019. He has remained in my thoughts throughout the year and as I approach the first anniversary of his death, a little sadness returns to my heart. Merlin my friend. I miss your company and the many good times we had together. I’m glad you left this earth peacefully and did not have to contend with this pandemic and all the associated nonsense.
But, life is for the living. We started our year on a happy note spending time with the grandchildren, playing in the yard, them telling us about their days at school, their happiness and love is infectious.
I entered my first full year of official retirement in 2020. I didn’t stop taking photographs though. I’ll take photos on my death bed if I can lift the camera.
Avoiding my death bed was the primary goal of 2020. Health issues and age have conspired to make me a high risk individual if I were to contract COVID, so once the pandemic started, my family went into hunker down mode and I seriously isolated myself from group settings.
As for my photographic pursuits, I’ve tried to stay active. Though I cancelled several scheduled photography trips, I managed to produce enough wildlife stock photographs to keep the catalogs up to date and also managed to do some day trips with a couple of friends using separate vehicles. A big thank you goes out to Jim Esten, my photo buddy for most of the year. We were able to work together in Monte Vista, North Park, CO, Garden of the Gods, and even some bighorn sheep. Two birds in different cages, we didn’t let it stop us.
We also shared our home with our neighbors from Red Feathers, Randy and Lisa, to give them a place to stay while Randy recovered from neck surgery. A welcome break to have friends in the house, hunkering down together with laughs and friendship. Randy has since recovered from his harrowing ordeal and both are doing fine back in the Village, hunkering down in the high country.
Trudy had a nightly tradition with the grand-kids where they would Facetime her and read her stories in the evenings to help keep up their reading skills while out of school for an extended period.
As for the pandemic. I haven’t eaten at a restaurant since March. I wear my mask when I go out in public. I’ve worked alone for the most part when out for photography and Trudy, her mother and I have been doing just fine sticking to the plan. So far, so good. My house has remained virus free and we are ending the year intact as a family and with no serious health issues to contend with. For that, I am thankful.
So, here it is. My year in a few oddball photographs. Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da. Life goes on.
January
Granddaughter Ava and Doobie playing in the back yard during a January warm spell.
Grandson Noah and Doobie, playing stick-ball. Doobie created the game. He finds his favorite stick and one of his balls, stuffs them in his mouth and then coerces the nearest human to chase him and take them away.
February
Doobie enjoys the warm thawing sun on the back porch.
Working Rocky Mountain Arsenal in the snow for deer before they lost their antlers.
March
Doobie poses for a photo from my new camera. When I take a camera outside, Doobie will grab some sticks and act up for me. He’s well trained.
Sandhill Cranes during the Spring migration in Monte Vista, Colorado. I made the trip this year with my buddy Jim Esten. The first reports of the Pandemic spreading were coming in at this time. Little did I know this would be my last photography trip with a friend this year.
April
Combating boredom, I clean out the Tupperware cabinet. Exciting stuff.
Male House Finch sitting on an evergreen tree in morning light. Hunkering down resulted in me spending a lot of time sitting on my back yard porch, watching and photographing the birds and bees and anything else that appeared.
May
I took advantage of the down time to refinish our back deck. Good exercise and a warm fuzzy feeling resulted, knowing I was doing something useful.
And the birds continued to visit. Male House Finch drinking water from a bird bath.
June
We managed to open up the cabin in early June. Our get away from the sequestered life in the Denver suburbs. This is a photo I took one evening after discovering we had a few mice in the cabin. One little fellow kept poking his head out from the fireplace as I was relaxing in my chair listening to music one evening.
Early June in Red Feathers, I normally get up early in the mornings and drive around the village looking for wildlife to photograph. One morning, this beautiful female elk was hanging out in the woods near the cabin.
July
Fiona and me sitting on the porch swing together on a warm July day.
July is normally my first month of moose photography. On my first trip out, I found this cow moose at sunrise. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my scheduled group moose photography outings for July due to the pandemic.
August
Late summer is when the garden bee weed blooms and I spent a lot of time photographing the honey bees.
Moose Calf with a watchful eye. My moose photography was a solo venture for the most part this past year. I got this photo while working with my friend Jim, the same day the Cameron Peak wildfire started, not far from where this photo was taken. As a result of the wildfire, moose photography came to a screeching halt.
September
As we moved in to September, the wildfire had grown to the point it was now threatening the Village of Red Feather Lakes. My eldest daughter purchased a cabin in the village while this fire burned to within 2 miles. A very stressful situation worked out okay in the end. The Village was spared, but not everyone was so lucky. Here’s a photo of the fire taken from my daughter’s front yard.
A much needed late summer snow put a squash on fire activity. It’s not uncommon for it to snow in September here in Colorado.
October
I cancelled my scheduled autumn photography trip this year because of the pandemic. Here’s a photo of a maple tree in my back yard instead.
Taken on a day trip with my friend Jim at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.
November
Testing another new camera on my favorite test subject, Doobie. All this isolation resulted in me blowing a lot of money on camera gear this year. Gear I hope to put to good use in 2021.
I did manage to make a few day trips with my friends Jim and Tim, looking for bighorn sheep in the mountains. This guy was one of a large group I was photographing the morning my car broke down. After this shot, I spend the rest of the day trying to find a tow truck.
December
My last bighorn trip of the year was after a fresh snow. I found a group of about 25 bighorn in a very accessible position and put some shutter time on the new camera.
Christmas lights up, snow on the ground. I try to get a photo of the house each year after I decorate it. Keeps the spirit alive and I sorta like how this one turned out. Not too tacky, those warm glowing lights always give us a smile when the sun goes down. Merry Christmas Everyone!
