I think I probably took more photographs this year than I had in my entire previous life, so looking back over them was remarkably time-consuming. But it was really fun to pick one image for each month. I tried not to use images that I’d already posted, so I can’t say these are the best photos of the year, but I tried to pick the photograph based on the quality of the image, not on what I remember of the month.

If I was selecting based on highlights, September’s photo would have been a beach in Arcata; August’s photo would have been a truly horrible snapshot of P & R laughing by the campfire; June would have been blueberries. December would have been photos I didn’t even take, of Christmas socks and flaming Bananas Foster and a sweet dog face peering out of the perfectly-sized hole she created in the window blinds. May would have been an entire album of the Best. Vacation. Ever.

And if I wanted to do a single photo of the year, it would be a crowd shot that never existed: of friends and family and relatives, all of the people I’ve visited this year, from blog acquaintances and writing buddies, to my oldest and dearest friends, to the extended family that I treasure beyond words, and the nuclear family that keeps me anchored when I worry that I’m drifting just a little too much. Of all the places I have been and the things that I have seen, I am most grateful to have had the chance to spend so very much time with the people that I love.

And now I’m going to get back to writing Grace. Well, no, first I am going to try to resolve my email troubles — I haven’t been able to make my main account work since before Christmas and I’m feeling guilty about the things that are probably in there that I should be responding to. My apologies if I’ve ignored any emails! It’s definitely time to figure out what’s wrong and fix it. And then I’m going to get back to Grace!

Happy New Year and may 2018 bring you much joy!