2020 will go down in history as the most interesting (for lack of better word) year, at least for my generation who didn’t fight any major global conflict. Here’s a montage of this year in twelve photographs off my cellphone backup.
January
The year started off very dry (uncommon in the Pacific Northwest) and pleasant, I recall spending time watching and photographing beautiful sunsets over the Puget Sound. Then came the biggest snow storm of that winter around mid-January.
But the most significant memory of this January was the day I was hoping to show the future father-in-law (Dave) the ring I bought for my future wife - Emily. The plan however fell through when Emily decided to join us for the happy hour. Nevertheless we had a great evening in Stack 571 burger & whiskey bar.
No masks and no lockdown, COVID was just another old world disease we thought would not cross the Atlantic and the Pacific.
February
Emily and I got engaged, while traveling through Europe. The winter felt unnaturally pleasant even on the other side of the Atlantic.
Still no masks on the faces although overall tourists’ presence seemed to have started to diminish. I recall reading about the new flu mutation on my phone while sitting in the hotel lounge in Copenhagen, getting ready to fly to our next destination within Europe.
March
Last day in 2020 I was physically at work. Work from home was initiated ahead of the mask up directives. In fact, I recall CDC telling us masks were not effective in arresting the spread of the virus. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer were available at least through the first half of March.
In amidst the start of panic of lockdown, I found Animal Crossing New Horizon. Social gathering became a thing on rehabilitated remote islands run by Mr. Tom Nook and his minions. I did not know back then how many hours I’d put into this game but I will tell you now - it was worth it, every fucking hour of it.
April
The spring after a very mild winter felt like a premature summer. But instead of going for camping we were grilling meats and BBQ in the patio. It was the beginning of a long nice warm weather streak that would spread over months.
May
We began making long road trips looking for opportunities in photography. For a moment, I felt the global COVID crisis was a bad dream. It felt real only when you read the news, no one in my acquaintance had died of COVID yet.
June
Back to Utah after many years, shooting time-lapse and chasing storms. Restaurants were open for dine-in while most of the west coast had already shut down under new laws. The hotel we stayed in probably had less than ten other parties staying overnight, breakfast was served in to-go boxes and only alternate rooms in any given floor were open/available. The National Parks however were packed with people although they disappeared after dark.
Later on after the trip, I accidentally deleted all RAW files from the memory cards, thereby loosing all the photographs from the trip.
July
Topical temperature checker helped certain business gain confidence in allowing customers come in. In other news, NEOWISE comment appeared over the northern horizon, I was thrilled to have an excuse to drive into the mountains and distant places to photograph (my favorite) night sky.
August
More nights in the mountains, away from people.
September
Besides being my birthday month, we got married in September, we had a very intimate wedding with a few other guests. Immediately after the wedding, we drove up to Glacier National Park, spent a few days in a small town outside the park.
October
Not the best Fall I have seen in the Northwest but was nice to see foliage amidst everything else that was happening. I feel lucky to live in a small city in the evergreen state where maple trees are in abundance.
November
The weather continued to be nice (dry) at least through the first half of the month, enabling us travel far and wide within the state for sunsets and night sky. Unlike summer, fall weather feels a lot nicer for hikes and outdoor activities and the sunsets have more colors.
December
Few sunny days in the second winter gave us the opportunity to hike, discover new trails.
