Not sure if you noticed, but 2020 was weird. The big, juggled world of travel work, grand schemes, family trips to Canada, grandparent visits, playdates and date nights went poof. In its place, at first, was our immediate neighborhood, mostly just the side streets and the field behind the middle school because even playgrounds were closed. Everyone was out, jittery and sanitized, but smiling at each other with their eyes.

With summer the public lands opened again so camping was an option, though everyone else had the same idea. We sought out primitive campspots to avoid the masses, to some success. The kids didn’t notice much, but Ada did create a new set of characters for her nightly story: Sumpy and Grumpy are two coyote people who are scared of anyone other than Ada and her family. So in the stories the skittish coyotes seek out hidden beach caves or take hot air balloon tours to mountain tops. Ada, eager to grease the story arc into motion, would quickly inject tension, proclaiming that suddenly people had arrived to the beach or the summit and Sumpy and Grumpy needed to retreat deeper into the wilderness. Eventually, everyone went to sleep, thankfully.

I also bought a Yashica 35mm film camera in spring 2020. It’s light, has a flash, and a cyanic hue that isn’t ideal but isn’t the end of the world. The camera fits in my pocket and Ada now understands that with film you can’t see the image immediately. She seems more willing to have her photo taken with the Yashica. Gus just tumbles forward into the unknown.

These are some of the things the Yashica saw this year, close to home.