2020, the Pandemic Year

 

Photos by Patrick Jones. My Instagram BestNine for 2020.

This is my annual reflection on the year. The COVID pandemic upended planned adventures and postponed experiences into 2021 and beyond. Unlike so many others, we've survived the year in good health. A number of friends and colleagues have had loved ones who've dealt with COVID, and several of my family in other parts of the country have been touched by the virus. Other than being a bit sick of each other from the extended stay at home time, we've been lucky.

I'll start with a look back at my top nine photos which heavily feature scenes close to home. The top left was throwback from capturing legendary photographer Estevan Oriol's LA Hands at Beyond the Streets in May 2018, reposted after watching his LA Originals documentary on Netflix. The top middle is of cherry blossoms in our neighborhood, along with chalk art by our daughter in the top right. The middle left was from a sunrise run in Singapore back in January, one of the few trips I was able to complete before our organizational travel ban went into effect. The center middle photo is by Bordalo ii, taken in Tallinn, Estonia in February. The right middle is our lab rescue Maya, who we adopted in May. The bottom left is Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring, taken in February when I was giving a lecture at The Hague. The bottom middle is one of Allison's homemade fig and prosciutto pizzas, one of many we enjoyed during quarantine. The bottom right is another throwback, one of Invader's mosaics in Paris taken after visiting the Louvre in October 2019.

2020 began as in prior years with a trip to headquarters in LA. On the same trip, I continued on to the Singapore office for meetings and to deliver a staff training. While in Singapore I had a bonus day over the weekend to go paddleboarding on Sentosa.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Marina del Rey, 8 Jan 2020.

Photo by Patrick Jones. View from the Singapore office, 13 Jan 2020.

At the end of the month, we took a family trip to DisneyWorld while Allison had a conference.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Monorail at EPCOT. 31 Jan 2020.

In mid-February, I had a lecture at Leiden University in The Hague, which provided an opportunity to visit the Mauritshuis Museum. As I arrived in Amsterdam, I was able to catch an exhibition by street artist Alice Pasquini. The February trip also included a lecture for the Estonian Internet community in Tallinn and a stop on the way back through Dublin, Ireland.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Tallinn, Estonia, 16 Feb 2020.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Pre-pandemic live music, Dublin. 18 Feb 2020.

March featured my last flights of the year before work travel was suspended. For the remainder of 2020, we transitioned into quarantine cooking, home projects, online school, virtual art classes for my Mom, and lots of reading. I think I've read more books in 2020 than in the past four years combined.

The pandemic cancelled spring baseball and closed our local courts and fields. I had trips planned to Germany, Poland, France, Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Germany again that were all cancelled due to COVID. In-person events moved to Zoom lectures for stakeholders in Germany, Southeastern Europe and universities in Hungary and Sweden. Our major conferences were also hosted on Zoom instead of in-person in Mexico, France, Malaysia and Germany.

Photo by Patrick Jones. 19 Apr 2020.

We learned some new things too, words such as social distancing, chin diapers (masks worn below the mouth instead of covering face) and working from home. My Spanish streak is up to 438 consecutive days and counting. We adopted Maya, a black lab mix originally from Lafayette, Louisiana. She's been a great addition to the family and we're lucky to have ended up with such a well mannered dog.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Maya. 7 Jun 2020.

In July I ran into DC for a trip to the dentist, and on the way back at stopped by the DC office to see some of the signs and murals near Black Lives Matter Plaza before running eight miles back home. We're largely in a comfortable bubble here in Alexandria, far removed from the protests that rocked the country this summer. We are hopeful of the change to come in 2021.

Photo by Patrick Jones. DC, 8 July 2020.

I took a few opportunities during the lockdown period for some socially distanced exercise activities with my sister, either paddleboarding on the Potomac in May, or hiking in Shenandoah and the Billy Goat Trail. I ran the virtual San Francisco Marathon 10K in November and ran a virtual 5 mile Alexandria Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.

In August we took a family excursion to the Outer Banks, where we rode out Hurricane Isaias. The beach trip was much needed for everyone, including the dog.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Allison & Maya.

September brought back the return of Little League Baseball under enhanced protocols, such as no players in the dugout, masks for the players, no parents in the stands and socially distanced with masks.

S on the mound, 7 Oct 2020.

We were grateful for the extended summer and enjoyable temperatures, well into November. We completed a major landscaping & drainage project in late November, allowing us to add a basketball hoop above the garage. This had been a wonderful addition. We updated the game of HORSE for 2020 and have already played many rounds of COVID on the new goal.

Photo by Patrick Jones. 22 Dec 2020.

We are fortunate to work in fields that allow us to do what we do from home during the pandemic time. Our kids are in a school system where they've been able to continue learning via Chromebooks and Zoom class with their teachers. While we've lost out on other experiences, we've been able to stay connected with close friends and family through regular video calls. We've stayed healthy, and that's something.

As I look ahead to 2021, vaccines and a hope for normalcy has me positive that next year will be better. In the meantime, stay safe.