That year end thing...

 We all do it. Talk about what we may think we want to accomplish in the next year, or state resolutions for the next year.

There are even key words for the next year. I used a 'Free Word Generator'. I clicked on it and...

it gave me the word:

Play

Wow. Okay.
Um.

I went no further than that word. There were all sorts of suggestions on the -- Interweb.

Travel inspired words
Healthy inspired words
Uplifting
Career focused
Words of inspiration, kindness, self love, and so many more.

The word that was given to me by some random bizarre generator was fine with me.

Play.

We all know that just by changing the year's ending number, nothing really NEW starts. We do what we have to do each day to get along and that is simply the basics of living a life.

I have a lot of things I'd like to do and like to say I'd do. But it really boils down to. 

One
day
at
a
time.

Last year I promised myself that I'd find a way to go camping for just one night. That didn't happen. Still, I'd like to do it just once.

I am setting up a photo challenge which I am almost certain I can attain.

A 365 Photo challenge. Theme suggestions that I may be able to do. 

Legos, Toys, Nature... 

I'm pretty sure I can fulfill the Lego-toy challenge. I wonder if I could fulfill a daily nature photo.

Men at work:

Ninebark bush, clumps of seeds.

The decision is still out. But I best make one soon.

I will probably do the photos on Flickr and not annoy anyone who reads this blog....or will I?

Hmmm.

Toys? Legos?
Nature?
Play?

Ideas?

So it is 22

Change the Page

The Holidays are over [Thank goodness!] I've taken down most of the decorations and am turning my attentions on my next project.

The photos above were used with some new editing techniques I've been trying to figure out.  For those interested I will show the before shots below.

I just went out in the fog with my Olympus DSLR and a 12mm lens. That means if I want to be closer, I have to walk closer.  

Of course I wanted a deep mystical mythical looking forest. The one that would have Hobbits running about and perhaps a few elves too. Sorry, no elves or trolls, just the trees and the clutter of the forest floor.

I picked out the cool oak tree I love so much and tried to find a good angle of it. This tree, I call the Hugging Tree. I mean it looks like it is ready to give you a hug! 
It's odd shape makes it a favorite of mine to take shots of all year long.

This boxelder tree is not well loved by most people. But I adore it. 
I think it is the absolute, best-est ever climbing tree in the universe. 

Okay, just the best one on our back road.

My neighbor lady found out that her kids were making a fort there once and was aghast. The tree resides on the edge of our absent neighbor's land. 

I told her that it was the place I would pick for a fort if I were their age.

She wouldn't let them keep their ropes and little chairs there. 

The photo below is just a random shot through the fog towards our house from deep in the woods.  I just thought that the leaves that still hung on the trees were unique. I don't know what kind of trees these leaves belong to, but I suspect some kind of cherry tree.

I won't repeat the snowy scene. Nature provided the absolute perfect backdrop for that. 

It is 22.

Just that.

It is just another date change. 

I'll get excited about the next snow storm or ice storm perhaps.

Today it was all about staying comfy while doing outdoor work.

Onward.

Review or not to Review

Basically 2020 will be year that historians will write about. If nothing else, it will be interesting to read about.

And we may hear things in the Future...like "My Grandmom lived through the Great Pandemic of 2020!" or some such thing. 

I have made it to the end of the year. That much is certain. Well, it will be more certain if I get past midnight.

For me, it will be the year that I began to seriously question people's priorities and friendships. The year I 'un' friended so many on FB. The year I kept count of many things. 

The Great Toilet Paper shortage. The year of the mask? Or the year of the anti mask? 
The year when most people started to understand just how fragile our lives can be. Or the year that some people said the Hell with It All. 

The craziest political year in the history of the United States?

So I'm not going to go on and detail 2020, but I may just toss out some photos I did this year.

Nope, I don't think I will write much of a review.

2020 happened. I'm not going to say 2021 will be awesome or great or...a new start and a blank slate.

But I will approach each day with a feeling of hope.

For without hope, we have nothing.

"Someone I once loved gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that this too,
was a gift." ~~~ Mary Oliver

I think that sums up the year quite perfectly.