I am currently sitting in Covid quarantine, I am not sure how many days in(maybe 4?), and am finally feeling like putting the yearly review entry together. Luckily for me the illness has been relatively mild with a minor fever for a couple or so days, lots of congestion, slight shortness of breath for about a day, general body aches, sleep challenges(which may not have been caused by this), lack of appetite, a little dizziness here and there... nothing beyond a basic cold, really. Just a bit on the extended side for sure. I'm still kicking out the phlegm in high volume.
So... starting at the beginning.
The year began in a flurry of busyness as I was working on the Nova feature with Dana and the crew down in Texas. Our team was small but mighty and we really put some great effort into our little creation and had some great fun along the way. I got to go meet the Austin arm wrestling team and practice with them a couple times which is always cool and got about a week off before the next big project started elsewhere in Texas later that month.
Moving into the next project I was quite enthusiastic and optimistic for a great experience. Toward the end of January, as we settled in at the location in Terlingua, a collection of challenges started to boil up and in ways definitely unexpected. The weather went kinda whacky, with the great Snow Storm of 2021 taking out the entire Texas power grid and ultimately closing down our production a few days earlier than planned.
Along with the physical challenges of the weather, I was also hammered first by the loss of my childhood friend's Mom(just before my birthday), followed by the loss of a podcast personality I had grown very fond of(Around the NFL) around February 6th, and the final blow being the loss of my father on February 13th. Wow... so heavy. SO heavy. It was quite an emotional challenge to attempt to cope with for quite some time. It was so cold in the world in so many ways.
I drove back home to Washington and life was a blur for a while. I know we decided to sell Pop's house and was basically moved out by May. Cleaning and organizing that place until we were out was a crazy sort of whirlwind in its own way. I know that I started doing some work here and there. Maybe started shooting Hoarders by then?(I don't remember)
I moved in with Chad in Renton and really saw a huge lifestyle change in so many ways. I became super busy with work which basically went solid until the end of December. I flew down to Texas in July to shoot some pickups for Nova, then work on the color grade for a couple weeks. I flew all over the country shooting several episodes of Hoarders. I also got to shoot a fun short film during the record heat wave that hit Washington, which was a challenge but fun as always!
In the Fall I was able to participate in a couple or so fun arm wrestling tournaments in various places. I also got to see the whole week of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, TX with Boyd and his crew. During that week we got to play a little in the "Fan Zone" along with seeing many of our old favorite players, usually in coaching positions. I also got to meet my favorite of all time, Kim Taek Soo when we were out to dinner and the entire Korean National Team sat down at the table next to us. So cool!
December was my month of rest(after a couple weeks of work) and I really enjoyed several moments in it. The Washington States Arm Wrestling tournament was super fun. Our coach got to participate in a 4-way battle(didn't win any matches but pulled well) then he won the divisions of the tournament after that. I got to pull with one of the Australians that came(he killed me) but that was fun. I travelled down to Elisa's for the holidays and got to play a bunch of table tennis at the Salt Lake Club with Boyd and the crew. Tons of fun all around and a great way to end the year!
In conclusion, how does one size up the year as a whole? It definitely was a landmark in the timeline of my life. Losing a parent(especially the last remaining parent) is an experience with such incredible emotional impact... something that truly can't be understood until it becomes a reality. And even then, it seems somewhat incomprehensible to me still. The profound effect they have in one's life... in my life. I am now a different creature in an unexpected way.