NEW BEGINNINGS - WEEK 1, 2021
As the clock turned midnight and we welcomed 2021, there was a sense of relief all over the world. The world has never been in such a hurry to say goodbye to any year then they were to say goodbye to 2020. Personally, I am feeling very optimistic for life in Australia, and with my newfound joy I decided to do something I haven’t done for a few years now, a new 52 week project – a photo a week of the same dog, my girl Indie, a Finnish Lapphund. One day later I was signed up to a group of dog photographers with a themed 52 week project, and this year with an extra challenge, a blog post. I see numbers and gloss over the words whenever I can, so this will be quite the challenge.
I couldn’t think of a better way to photograph the theme ‘new beginnings’ then to photograph what we are leaving behind. The Covid signs are slowly disappearing in Geelong, but there are some still around, and I can’t wait to see them all come down in 2021.
The word ‘unprecedented’ described 2020 so well. It was the year the world saw the Covid19 pandemic sweep every continent on our planet. Australia watched in horror as the pandemic swept through overseas countries overwhelming their health services. We also watched with pride the citizens doing everything they could to celebrate and support their front-line heroes. So many great people chose, in the face of a crisis to be the best, and kindest version of themselves.
On the home front, I watched as the Geelong streets became deserted during the first shutdown. You could stroll across streets at a leisurely pace instead of heading down to the traffic lights to wait for the little green man. I did my bit for the local economy and purchased the most delicious meal preps from Emerge each week. I also developed a taste for Nutella shakes from A Spot For Joe, I highly recommend visiting them for a taste test.
There was good news in 2020 for so many dogs. If they didn’t have a home before, they did now, the animal shelters became empty as people discovered the pure joy a pet could bring them. For the pets that already had a home, so many also benefited. Their owners stopped leaving them at home every day, and they worked from home, with devoted dogs and cats at their feet, or sometimes on their keyboards. Dogs and cats all over had a new name, co-workers, sometimes they entertain us all during virtual meetings, but often they sleep on the job, we can’t win them all.
September 2020 brought a special new beginning for the Geelong region, zero active cases, and Melbourne joined us around a month later. 2021 brings even more optimism with the introduction of vaccines around the globe. My hope is that we can return to the waterfront at the end of the year for a photo like this one, but with zero Covid19 signs.
Here’s to a great 2021 for you all, and I look forward to seeing you for week 2.
