I release you, 2023.
I thank you for the connections, the lessons, and the memories you brought me.
And I celebrate another year of life and transformation through you.
With deep gratitude, I let you go as I turn the page, knowing that your end is the beginning of a new chapter in my life story.
-Unknown

As I explored the countryside around the Lodge over the last days of 2023, I have had time to listen to the quiet and to reflect. It has crossed my mind more than once that I am very much like the old farm houses that I am drawn to photograph . . . built on a strong foundation, sturdy, good bones, and showing a little weather-a little wear and tear-with the passage of time.

I would like to think that like me, the walls have witnessed more chapters of joy than sorrow; that strength and perseverance saw the owners of these houses through the tough parts; and that there are individuals who remember fondly the feeling of home that these walls provided.

Besides photographing abandoned farm yards (no. 31 on my list) and driving new roads (no. 16), I made a list of 55 things that I am grateful for (no. 4 . . . I have decided to do this each year on December 21st), I continue to get out for sunrises (no. 32) and sunsets (no. 33) whenever possible, and I have enjoyed a couple of nights of fires in my fireplace (no. 43).