As we emerge from our year and a half pandemic cocoons, the skies seem brighter, the opportunities more open and life is slowly finding its way towards our new normal.

We were not the unfortunate ones during the pandemic. We were safe in our hermetically-sealed environment and could take walks through the local hills off Santa Monica's Main Street neighborhood and we didn't have to go out daily as front-line workers to deal with the realities of COVID contagion. And for that, we are truly thankful. But isolation does take a toll and it feels good to be able to give and get a hug again and to go to a restaurant or just go out where there are others!

So now we look forward to a return to what we had hoped would be our new chapter back in late 2019 when we took an apartment for a year in the heart of Paris but had to give it up by the next March when it all hit the fan. Stay tuned! We're doing this again and there will most definitely be some new photography to come. Let's all continue to do the right things regarding COVID — get vaccinated, wear a mask when it is appropriate to protect others, be cautious and careful. But let's open up our hearts and minds and horizons once again. Life is for living . . . .

Heading back to my happy place, this time with a 1-year visa and an apartment one-year lease in hand! And no, that's not us in the photo!! I call this one "Keith Richards' Mother Does Paris!"

We'll use Paris as our base for explorations throughout Europe and to be close to our family who's been living outside of Munich for almost 5 years — 6300 miles from Mimi and GrandBob back here in L.A.! Can't wait to resume our street wanderings, café sampling and art/culture immersions! Follow along here and you should see some fun images as we take this awesome journey!

This is one of my favorite places in DTLA! Yahoo Kusama's infinity installations are mind-blowingly cool. Only problem is that you get a mere 45 seconds by yourself inside the room. I could stay there all day!

Paris, bien sur! Even though Paris at the holidays can be cold, gray, windy and rainy, it is still Paris! It sparkles and beckons with a beguiling enchantment that is uniquely its own. And for me, that enchantment is my catnip, photographically speaking. Everywhere I look I see amazing imagery. In this instance, Debbie, some friends of ours and I had been walking all afternoon through the Latin Quarter and then, as darkness fell, we found ourselves on charming Ile Ste-Louis. This scene — taken about 500 yards east of Notre-Dame, was the result of a happy confluence of elements: a tour-guide's old Citroen Duck parked in front of two classic-style bistros, some vintage street lamps, twinkle lights in the bare trees, a white-aproned waiter, dinner patrons and a lit bedroom window. But it was missing something. After 15 minutes of shooting I heard a soft repeated clickety-clunk over my shoulder and I knew that the empty cobblestone patch was about to be filled. As the bicyclist rolled through, all the players fell into perfect position. Voila! Magically it was a 1962 evening in Paris!

What's it been, maybe 8 months since I posted on my Photos du jour blog page? A lot of good things have happened in those eight months and a few of the winner photos from our Paris/Marbella winter holidays trip are posted in the galleries elsewhere on the site. Back home, I've been taking the opportunity to do a little more exploration in DTLA as well as the 'hood around home here ate the beach.

This image I recently captured during a wonderful all-day Saturday wander through Venice Beach that Debbie and I took. There's an amazing exhibition of David Hockney's marvelous iPad/iPhone creations at the LALouver Gallery on North Venice Blvd at Speedway. Brilliant works! If you're in our hood, stop in to see them!