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2021

A cautious return to normal-ish. Kind of.

By Carlos Gomez

January 4^th, 2022

Last year, time had little to no meaning and I put together a story to try and make sense of the year. 2021, while better in some ways, felt similarly disjointed and meandering. A hastily shaken cocktail of optimism, chaos, achievement, and a whole lot of 🤷.

However! This go-around, I decided to go through the archives and put together my favorite photos from the past year and highlight the fun, community, and interesting moments of the past 12 months.

Here goes...

Winter

It was a relatively quiet start to the year, locally at least. Nationally, it was, well you remember.

February began with a week away in Lake Tahoe, with cautious Californian's optimism of seeing snow.

💡.

Golden Gate Park played host to "Entwined", an art installation by Charles Gadeken.

Spring

Pacific Northwest

In March, I took a week off to drive up to Washington, visit Olympic National Park, stay a few days in Seattle, and loop back down to Oregon. Seattle lived up to its rainy reputation, is a very solid dog town, and is home to the first Little Free Art Gallery in the world. See more of that leg of the trip here.

This main purpose of heading north, however, was to spend some time disconnecting. A cabin in rural Oregon with no Internet or cell service fit the bill and I hope to go back next year. Tons of natural light, little distraction, and reading nook.

🥾.

The year was also full of new hikes and exploration around the Bay. One of my favorite shots while wandering Mill Valley was this one of Nigel who roams the hills in the afternoon with a glow stick on his collar. Can confirm that he loves ear scratchies. Good boy, Nigel.

"Hey, I didn't say you could stop petting me! Where are you going?"

Summer

1,500 Miles to Colorado

Solo travel still seemed like the wisest bet this summer. Denver was the ultimate destination, but I added a revisit to the Grand Tetons as a detour on the way. Alas, I did not account for the heat difference in July versus when I visited last fall. Either way, it was still delightful. Albeit toasty.

Denver

Envious this guy snagged the coziest reading spot in the Continental US.

🌄.

Early in the summer, I decided it would be a good idea to set aside two full days to visit Yosemite. I'm no stranger to the park, heck I even have the Yosemite conservation license plate...but I had previously only done day trips, bookend by four hours of driving from the Bay.

Staying local meant I could be up early enough and stay late enough to capture the sunrise and sunset. I was rewarded with perhaps my favorite landscape photograph so far: an intense sunrise casting a spotlight on Half Dome through the morning haze.

💃🏻.

With warmer weather and the Bay being the most vaccinated region in the country, outdoor events were a go again. I ended up spending a ton of time in Golden Gate Park this summer, and even though I've lived here over a decade now, I had never stumbled upon Lindy in the Park before.

It's absolutely delightful, wholesome, and so welcoming.

Flower Piano at SFBG

The San Francisco Botanical Garden hosts an annual concert series and interactive weekend where they place twelve pianos around the park. It was canceled in 2020, but returned for 2021.