2023: The Year In Photos

Everyone is scrambling at this time of the year - or is it just me? I can't seem to manage my time and activities properly during the Holidays, and yet every new year I vow to to my Christmas shopping early, get the house a Holiday cleaning before Halloween so that I can put up the tree the second week of November which then frees the rest of November to prep and enjoy all the upcoming activities and especially the eating part. But here I am again. Scrambling. Not a single present wrapped, much less bought.

That is why I barely have time to continue the documentation to my January trip to Israel and Jordan. I truly want to finish this series so that I can move on to the next one.

In the meantime, allow me to share some of my favorite photos from this year. Off hand I must say that this year has been good to me personally and I am hoping that I have been good to the Universe and everything and everyone in it.

I'm blabbering I know and I beg your patience. So here are some of the photos I took this year.

January - our first morning in Tel Aviv. The city was so peaceful and we felt safe roaming around on our own day or night.

February - a couple of hours after we let our kitty Emma run to the Rainbow Bridge. We couldn't/didn't want to go home to one without Emma so we thought a drive would calm us down. We were chasing a sunset, but this one didn't capture one. This one's looking towards the Napa Valley and that is probably Mt. Saint Helena.

March - we love to go for a drive on weekends and this was the first time we went to Gold Run, a former mining town during the Gold Rush era.

April - our first visit to Pinnacles National Park.

May - the flowers were blooming on our first visit to Ruth Bancroft Garden.

June - Yosemite was the highlight of the month.

July - my friend and I watching the seals in beautiful Pacific Grove. Our friends retired in charming coastal town to be near their only daughter and their grandchildren.

August - my birth month. I chose this sunset shot from my front yard. I love the sunset watching opportunities just outside my front door.

September - we were in Turkey late Sept to early Oct and this was taken on our very first night in Istanbul. This was almost midnight shot. We went for dinner and walked around Sultanhamet area.

October - our first time in Mare Island.

November - one of the spots we chose to do our daily walks. My husband and I met at work, in Emeryville, just at the other end of the bridge from San Francisco. It's been about a couple of decades since we last worked in Emeryville and we were a bit nostalgic so we we drove there to get our steps for the day.

December - one of my bucket list items is to visit one of the states that have a profusion of fall foliage.