Amor

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. DC, 30 Dec 2022.

Robert Indiana's AMOR sculpture, at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.

2022 Recap

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Jonas Never, Santa Monica. 5 Jan 2022.

Reflecting on 2022, it has been a pretty decent year. International travel returned for me, and we were able to enjoy some cool adventures with the family. While not without its ups and downs, and quite a bit of COVID-related missed school for the kids, overall we seem to have made it to the last week of December with high hopes for 2023.

As with previous years, I'm sharing this recap post of photos from various locations. The photo above was from my visit to LA back in early January. I previously shared some photos of street art and surfing from that same trip.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Puerto Rico, 19 Feb 2022.

In February, we left the winter chill behind over Presidents Day Weekend for sunny Luquillo Beach in Puerto Rico. This location was perfect for exploring the nearby El Yunque National Park (below).

Photo by A. Jones. El Yunque, 20 Feb 2022.

Later in March, I worked from LA while following a conference remotely. 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Venice, CA. 9 Mar 2022.

In April we visited Blacksburg, Virginia, home to Virginia Tech University. Allison had a conference and the kids took in a college tour.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Blacksburg, 23 Apr 2022.

In June we celebrated S' final Little League baseball season with a championship victory. Later in the month, I returned to international travel with a trip to The Hague and some side adventures in Rotterdam, Delft, and on the beach in Noordwijk.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Delft, NL. 16 June 2022.

In July, we visited family in South Carolina to celebrate a birthday and took in the sun at Folly Beach. S discovered a love for fishing and caught a stingray during a day trip on the intercoastal.

We saw some epic concerts, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Jane's Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Jane's Addiction, 18 Oct 2022.

In September, I spent a week in Singapore covering a meeting, followed by another week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was great to return to Asia, and catch up with friends and colleagues.

In October, we took a quick family trip to Los Angeles before I attended a meeting, enjoying some of our old haunts, from Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, the Getty Museum, Paradise Cove, and nearby Santa Barbara County.

Photo by S. Jones. Dinner at Elephante, 21 Oct 2022.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Getty Museum, 23 Oct 2022.

Allison's epic tomato harvest had us finding new ways to eat tomatoes even into December.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Tomato harvest, 29 Oct 2022.

In November, I flew back to Europe, spending some time in Belgium and France. This was another memorable adventure, including some bonus live music at the end of my trip. 

We turned post-Thanksgiving turkey into tamales with our good friends, and took in a Wizards game in DC.

So many great memories of this year, and I am looking forward to new & exciting plans for 2023.

Christmas Palm

 

Painting by B. Jones. 2022.

Merry Christmas

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria, VA. 21 Dec 2022.

Winter Scene

 

Maja Lisa Engelhardt. VII Winter Solstice. 2001.

Storm

 

Alfred Jacob Miller. Storm: Waiting for the Caravan. 1858-1860.

Winter Chill

Claude Monet. Vétheuil in Winter. 1878/79.

Meteorological winter may have arrived on 1 December but today marks the Winter Solstice. A looming storm is bringing some of the coldest Christmas temperatures in over 30 years to the DC area this weekend. Tomorrow will likely center on stocking up for the bitter winter days ahead.

Thoughts on P-22

Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic. P-22, 2013.

Saturday's sad news on P-22 took me several days to process and put into perspective. Reading this eulogy by David Ulin in the LA Times, I had similar thoughts about what P-22 meant to me as an adopted Angelino. Although I no longer live there, LA is always home. Over the past 10 years, I've thought a lot about P-22 and other nearby mountain lions. I've donated to the Save LA Cougars campaign and followed the progress on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing at Liberty Canyon. I've enjoyed reading about P-22's adventures and discoveries of new puma litters in the mountains surrounding LA.

Without P-22, his years in Griffith Park, and Steve Winter's iconic photo with P-22 under the Hollywood Sign, the crossing at Liberty Canyon likely would not have been funded. This mountain lion made the improbable trek across both the 405 and 101 freeways, and lived for over ten years in the middle of Los Angeles. His journey and long life in the city has been an inspiration to many.

I shed a tear for P-22 on Saturday but hope his life leads to more support for urban wildlife protection in LA.

"Whatever else it is, Los Angeles is a place of aspiration. P-22 was part of that lineage, a saint of the city in the most elemental sense." - David Ulin, LA Times. 

Palm Tree, 1865

 

Frederic Edwin Church. Palm Tree, June 1865.

RIP P-22

 

LA Times, 5 Oct 2013. P-22.

😢 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-17/p22-obituary-celebrity-mountain-lion-cougar-puma-griffith-park-california

Pomegranate Tree

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Getty Museum, LA. 23 Oct 2022.

Christmas Lights, 1935

 

UCLA LA Times Digital Collection. Pasadena, CA. 1935.

Rain Day

 

Jean-François Raffaëlli, Place d'Italie after the rain, 1877.

Throwback

 

Indianapolis Star, 21 Mar 1995

Nearly 28 years ago, I saw Bush on their first tour of the US, in support of their Sixteen Stone album. They played a St. Patrick's Day show at Union Station in Indianapolis (reviewed in the article above). I remember it was an incredibly packed show, and according to the concert review, there were 3,000 in attendance. As a hazy memory recalls, it was a very tightly packed show, and I recall it was pretty loud & awesome.

Bush is going on tour again in early 2023, with another favorite band from my college days, Candlebox. I'm pretty sure I saw Candlebox live in November 1995 when they played at the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis. I no longer have a record of my concert tickets from back in those days, so I'm not certain. Either way, I'm excited to see both bands in mid February 2023 at The Anthem in Washington DC. It's going to be a great show and will bring back a lot of 90s memories. 

Earlier this year, I saw Jane's Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins at Capital One Arena in DC. That was a bucket list concert as I hadn't seen either band live, and both were great after all this time. A & I also took the kids this past summer to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers & the Strokes at Nats Park; and we saw Weezer & Green Day at Nats Park (well, S got tired & I had to take him home before Green Day went on stage).

We're excited to see Bush & Candlebox in February!

At a Window

 

Caspar David Friedrich, 1822.

Canal in Bruges

 

Henri Le Sidaner, Canal in Bruges, 1899.