Right now, my world is under nearly three feet of snow. It is even quieter in Vermont than usual, and I can hear the busy woodpeckers hammering away above, and a stream gurgling determinedly at the bottom of the garden. Getting anywhere new, off the carefully dug path from the house to car to the road, means a slow and heavy trudge.

There are worse metaphors for right now.

For several years, we’ve written an End of Year blog post that shares a summary of our adventures. This year, of course, things look very different. In January, Suzanna and I met up in Istanbul, where we visited with the amazing people of Superpool, visited Bodrum (and ate very well indeed). In February, we went to California and met with most of the newly formed Playwork Collective. This is a group of folks who started and staff amazing adventure playgrounds in the USA, and who want to help build community and momentum around playground ideas. We got all whiteboard-ambitious, dreaming up all sorts of possibilities for training and connection of playworkers worldwide! Soon after, we quietly won an award and then in March…. well, you know.

It’s been a year of hunkering down and focusing for both of us, on our families, and our PhDs. The world feels smaller now, and many of our plans have stalled or now feel inappropriate. That’s okay, as playworkers we have plenty of experience making new plans on the fly, as circumstances change. More importantly, it’s been a reminder to pause, heal and regroup – to do all the good we can locally, and to work within ourselves.

Instead of our customary Very Big Tours, we launched a small pilot course on Adult Play, in which we shared our more personal journey of exploration and joy in a small group. The Playwork Collective is still meeting and was very involved in KOOP’s PPC Conference, and we’re taking time to figure out where to direct our energies next.

Winter is a quiet time and good for dreaming.

Stay tuned and Suzanna will share some of our thoughts for what next!

Our 2020: The Year of the Unexpected

By Morgan