2025 photos and videos
It's that time of year when I often do a blog post looking back on the year in photos. In recent years, that usually that means travel photos or photos of hiking with the dogs in Southwest Montana, but this year has been different because of my two knee surgeries, which kept me home more than usual. Not just home as in close to Butte, America, but home as in in the house, not taking photos of anything at all on many days. According to the totals on my backup drive, I took fewer photos this year than I have in any of the last 20 years.
So I've decided this year to do two year-end blog posts. This one includes below a few favorite photos or videos from each month of 2025, and there's also a separate post about my knee in 2025, for those who may be interested.
January
The big event in January was our trip to Kenya with Megan's aunt Marsha and cousin Rhonda. We visited several national parks and nature reserves, and I took thousands of photos and published many of them in daily blog posts here.
The most exciting moment of our trip was when a bull elephant came charging out of the brush and roaring at us for coming too close to his family. Our guide assured us that it was a "fake charge," but the adrenaline rush was real!
Charging bull elephant and his family.
February
In early February, I got a drone and was instantly hooked. I took my first drone flight at Frenchman Coulee near the Columbia River, on the way to Seattle to visit my Mom. I've photographed this spot countless times, but the combination of aerial perspective and motion opens up a whole new world.
My first video with the DJI Mini 4 Pro drone.
Getting a drone in February while living in Butte, Montana means you're either going to not be able to use it for a while, or you're going to push it beyond the manufacturer's ratings for cold temperatures. I chose the latter option. My drone is rated for use down to -10C (+14F), but I flew it well below that temperature several times. Other than short battery life, it didn't seem to have any problems.
Isaac playing in the snow west of town in February.
March
On St. Patrick's Day of this year, the original neon sign from the M&M, which had been saved when the building burned to the ground in 2021, was re-lit at its new location next door. Main Street had felt so dark and dreary at night without the M&M sign, and now it's colorful again.
April
In April I decided to learn how to use more of the features of my drone, so I watched lots of videos and practiced various techniques.
The beginning of this video is my first attempt at a "dolly zoom," a technique popularized by Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo.
April 28: celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary at the Hitchin' Post in Melrose, Montana.
May
May was mostly about getting my knee surgery done, so I didn't take many photos that weren't related to that topic.
June
It felt like a milestone when I was able to stand long enough to cook dinner for Megan in early June.
July
Megan took Isaac on a road trip to California in early July, so I was on my own with Nancy and George for a while.
My first post-knee-replacement workshop project was a shoe bench for the bedroom, built around the dimensions of my favorite slip-on shoes and hiking boots.
The finished shoe bench. My first time using pocket hole joinery.
August
Early August for me was mostly about finishing up the third and final bookcase for the library project upstairs. I've picked up many books over the last few years that I haven't got around to reading, so now it's time to do some long anticipated reading, and I have great place to do it. I'm currently nearly done with Moby-Dick, a book I'm finally old enough and patient enough to get through.
The finished library, with our books unboxed and shelved.
While our friend Nora was visiting in August, she and I took the tour of Our Lady Of The Rockies, the 90-foot statue overlooking Butte from the Continental Divide. It was a spectacular place to shoot some drone video.
A drone flight around Our Lady Of The Rockies.
September
In September I started installing a new batch of Tapo security cameras around our house that have much better low-light performance than the old Nest cameras we had been using before.
A security camera shot of heading out for an early morning dog walk.
October
I spent the first week of October in the hospital, then the rest of the month on bed rest while doing multiple IV antibiotics each day, so I took almost no photos that month.
November
Megan traveled to New York for a few days in November, and that was a milestone for me: I took care of the dogs and house on my own for a while. We all survived.
For Mom's 94th birthday, I made her a simple box she could put on a shelf in her tiny apartment, and I selected the construction materials to fit her. She's a proud North Dakotan, tough as dirt like they all are, so I made the box from sturdy white ash, the most common tree in North Dakota, and lined the bottom with leather as a nod to her upbringing on a farm. Mom is a big fan of travel to Kenya and Ghana, so I added an accent of padauk, an orangish-brown hardwood indigenous to those countries.
Mom's birthday box.
December
We had some excitement when the dogs got out in early December and Nancy led them on a wild run around the west side of Butte. Thankfully it was a snowy evening, so very little traffic and what little there was moving slowly. Megan and I searched in our cars and had contact with several people (including a police officer) who had spotted them in person or on security cameras, and eventually we got them safely back home. The next day, I changed my procedure for leashing them up for walks so that this can't ever happen again.
December this year has been unusually mild, with very little snow and many days (and even a few nights) with temperatures well above freezing.
We had a memorable 2025, and are looking forward to another great year in 2026. Happy New Year!