A very warm hello to all my friends and followers!

One word….Hello!

I don’t know what to say, or where to start really!

What a time we have all been through, and in some cases, are still going through as we speak.

Our lives have been turned almost upside down. And loved ones have been lost.

So let me start off by sending condolences to those of you who have lost loved ones through the pandemic. Any death, no matter who, is a tragedy, but it’s even more so if it happens to be someone from your immediate or close family.

I am not immune…..I lost both parents and my favourite uncle within this pandemic. I think of them every day, not a moment goes by when I do not look at their photos in my living room, and try to comprehend that I will never see them again, never hear their voices again.

Our work routines have also been turned around; many of us have been, and still are, working from home.

When I was told last March that I must work from home, for the first few weeks I found it very strange, I felt detached from the normal world, but gradually over the year, I have gotten used to it, so much so that I have decided I will not be going back to the office now that lockdown is over, at least in the UK. My employers are happy with this arrangement.

New words have been added to our language, too……furlough, lockdown, pandemic, social distancing, touch-free payments and of course, Covid19.

When will be get back to normal?

IMHO……never, or at least, not in the very near future. I would say this IS the new “normal” we are in now. Best we get used to it!

Not all is doom and gloom though.

At long last, we are slowly beginning to venture out of our homes, albeit very carefully and being constantly alert to follow guidelines set by our governments.

I haven’t touched a single of my film cameras for more than a year now….I just did not have the inclination or enthusiasm that I once did since you guys have been following this blog. For that, I do apologise, if you have been disappointed at the lack of new film camera material. I will promise to get myself back into gear soon though.

Talking of gears, during the gloom of the pandemic, I have been able to realise one of my long-held dreams, which is to have my own motorbike! I decided I had procrastinated far too long and now was as good a time as any to do it.

So I am the happy owner of 2 bikes at the moment, a Honda Shadow and Kawasaki 550 LTD. The feeling of riding a bike is out of this world…as somebody has said, when you drive a car through incredible scenery, it’s like watching a movie, but when you’re riding a motorcycle through the same environment, then you’re IN the movie! I will post a few shoots of my bikes in due course for you!

I won’t say I havent taken any photos though. I took this shot with my humble iPhone…hope you like it…..for me, it expresses my peace of mind that I have lost over the past year or so….

🙂

l