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 . . . .