It’s the final day of 2020 – that alone is cause for some happiness. It’s a time to reflect back on the year and then consider the year ahead.
Favorite picture of the year: That’s a tough call. I took some good pictures in 2020 – not enough, but some good ones. So I’ll pick several. The first one is from January 4th, 2020. I like it because (a) it’s my brothers, and (b) it was weirdly prophetic. The masks have nothing to do with the pandemic – in January 2020 we’d never heard the word COVID. We wore the N95 masks while we were cleaning out Dad and Phyllis’ garage, full of some nasty dust and stuff. We had no idea that those masks would become de rigeur only a couple of months ahead. Very weird coincidence.
My next favorite picture of 2020 was taken in Cabo in February. I’m including it just because it’s a damn fine picture – I love the lighting.
My final favorite picture of the year has to be this one. It captures one of my favorite moments of the year, meeting Jesse.
Favorite song of the year: Texas Sun, by Khraungbin and Leon Bridges. That song kept me driving happily during the first pandemic cross-country trip. (Now that I think about it, my favorite song of 2020 is pretty much anything by Khraungbin. Though Texas Sun was my first.)
Favorite books of the year: The Expanse, books 1-6 (still have 7 and 8 to look forward to). According to Goodreads I read 84 books in 2020, totaling 28,738 pages. Yikes!
Favorite TV show of 2020: a tie between Yellowstone season 3 and The Expanse, all seasons. I’ve been binge-watching The Expanse seasons 1-4, saving the new season 5 for some down time in 2021.
Best meal of 2020: Has to be the luxe 11-course meal K and I shared at Manta in Cabo. Every course was superb. I wrote about it here, back in February.
Favorite moments of the year: A tie between (a) waking up not-dead after surgery, and (b) meeting and holding grandson Jesse for the first time.
Least favorite moment of the year: Seeing the George Floyd murder pictures/video for the first time. A stark reminder that man’s inhumanity to man knows no bounds. Call this a tie with the night of the election when it appeared that Trump might have won a second term.