When closing out a year, I like to take stock of how I spent my energy. I ask myself…

What’s working? What’s not? What’s next for 2026?

1. I had photographs in a few shows. I will apply to more shows in 2026. Here are a few of my favorite quiet images from 2025.

2. History and research became much more than a hobby for me in 2025. However, before I would tell folks I’m a historian, I looked up the definition.

Historians research, analyze, interpret, and write about the past by studying historical documents and sources. —Bureau of Labor Statistics

Well, I guess I am a historian after endless research of source material, attending a history conference, and giving a presentation about Depression era banking in 2025.

I found these two gems while sorting my grandfather’s files. I wonder who wrote “Good-by” on the train departure photography?

Next week I’m heading to South Dakota to research all that surrounded a letter my grandfather wrote as a 34-year-old in December of 1944. A mystery involving an energy company, the sale of war bonds, the governor, a senator, the death of his father-in-law, banking, political aspirations, and so much more. I can’t wait to continue pulling on this thread.

3. I restarted my childhood hobby of collecting coins. In a world with so much artificialness, there’s something about holding a coin, noticing the weight, art, and history that I find fascinating. This French 5 franc coin from 1945 was made out of aluminum because of the metal shortages during the war. It was worth about ninety cents at the time.

4. I stepped away from a few things to focus on making art in 2025. I decided it was time to dedicate myself to art in this last year of my 50s and see what happens. It’s funny how energy can shift when intentions are clearly defined.

4. Like my grandfather, I’ve continued the tradition of collecting quotes. Here are a few of my favorites from 2025.

I’d rather regret the things I have done than the things that I haven’t. —Lucille Ball

I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best. ―Marilyn Monroe

Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie. ―Khaled Hosseini/author of The Kite Runner

Cheers to another trip around the sun…

I wish you a year filled with humor, curiosity, and sparks.

PS What didn’t work for me in 2025? Judgment, doom scrolling, too much sugar, not enough water, and too much clutter.