After a month of downtime, travel and vacation, I am back to my weekly blog entries. I hope everyone has been having a good summer. I was lucky enough to leave the 505 for an extended trip, and it really did the trick to refocus my energies and see new things.

My trip began with a red eye flight to JFK airport in New York. An early morning arrival allowed me to have my “go to” breakfast of whitefish salad on a pumpernickel bagel at Russ and Daughters. I then strolled a few blocks to the International Center of Photography to see the fantastic William Klein exhibition. I was visiting as a guest of the museum, as I had recently interviewed the curator of the exhibition, David Campany, for my podcast. Listen here: “William Klein: YES” The show was inspiring, and overwhelming. I’m looking forward to adding the catalogue book to my library as soon as it is available.

The trip then took me to the closest thing I have to a “happy place,” the New Jersey shore. Time on the beach is alway a pleasure, as it brings me back to the days of my childhood, sitting on a blanket in the sand and jumping into the waves of the (this year..frigid!) Atlantic Ocean.

Next was an early morning commute back up to NYC, to meet my wife at JFK for a transatlantic flight to Budapest. We had a friend getting married there, and used the occasion as a great excused for a return to Europe…after years of prohibited travel. Hungary, despite its questionable political situation, is a beautiful country, and the city of Budapest is particularly gorgeous. The wedding itself was an amazing experience, filled with songs, performances, comedy and Central European craziness.

Next on the itinerary was the city of Leipzig in Germany. A former East German manufacturing hub, the city has been on the short end of reunification. This has actually been turned into an artistic advantage, particularly the old factory buildings that now house art studios, galleries and cafes. The Stasi Museum in the city was also a sobering, yet insightful site I am glad I got to visit.

Our final destination was the great city of Berlin. The city is very dear to me for a number of reasons, having been there two times before this trip. However, it was 15 years since my last visit, and I was curious if the city had changed much in that time. I was happy to discover that it had not. The edgy, funky vibe on the streets was a present as ever. Between too many cigarettes and too many weisse beers, we saw some amazing art shows. The Berlin Biennial was in full swing, and I also attended a great show by Susan Meiselas at C/O Berlin. I also discovered the work of Sybille Bergemann, and took home a book of her beautiful photography.

The most surprising thing that you, dear reader, might want to hear is… I did not bring out my camera once during the entire trip. Yes, I had my iPhone for snaps and Instagramming, but I did not even attempt to do any “serious” shooting on this trip. It was a refreshing change of approach for me, and I am glad that I am not experiencing any remorse for the decision not to shoot this journey. If anything, it gave me the time and space to let other things in…good food, good times with my wife, and the rest and relaxation my brain really needed. Even so, it’s good to be home and back to work.

I have been fortunate to have avoided the dreaded Covid over the past 2 plus years. I have also been fortunate to have been vaccinated and boostered. Due to my age, I received booster shot number four this week. With it came the expected cruddy feelings the following day. After shots two and three, I was pretty much down for the count the following day. Shot number four was no different. Body aches and extreme exhaustion were on the menu again. I made sure I had little work responsibilities for the day after, and spent most of the day in bed. I think I logged about 16 hours of sleep. Again, good fortune to be able to just stay in bed and sleep. There is an interesting element to this experience. Usually when one gets sick, one doesn’t know how bad or how long the illness will be. Add the unpredictability of the Covid pandemic to the mix and anxious days or weeks can easily follow. There is something very different when you know what to expect, having voluntarily introducing a small bit of disease into your system. Riding out the after effects was not pleasant at all, but the understanding that the pain and suffering would be finite made things much easier to process mentally. A surrender to the reality of the situation was comforting, as was a warm bed in a quiet house. Today, I feel almost back to normal. With the time to do nothing but rest came some time to sit quietly with my thoughts and ponder the plenty I have in my life, including the ability to get sick and then get well again.