I understand all togs sometimes go through that phase - when you take a step back and momentarily lose the intensity in your desire to pick up the camera and indulge in your photography pursuit. In my case, I don't know if it had to do with the downer associated with the end of the festive season - and I'm not talking of the recent Easter break either - since last Xmas/New Year!

My 3 month break from tending to my passion was not completely photography free though. I spent 3 weeks in Nigeria in February primarily to attend the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the creation of my alma mater, the Federal Government College at Ilorin, founded in 1973. My photo journal of the events which spanned across 2 different cities - Ilorin, and the Nigerian capital city, Abuja, are placed in my "FGCI@40" gallery.

It was personally a very memorable experience for me as a whole, reconnecting with folks and family members I hadn't seen in yonks, meeting new people and making new friends, traveling the breadth of the country spanning 6 different towns, never spending more than 2 nights at the same location. I hadn't felt so stress-free, peaceful and genuinely high-spirited in many many years, I could almost describe it as spiritually therapeutic. Possibly also because my work phone had had international roaming disabled so I couldn't have a sneak peek into my work email to glean what was going on while I was away, as I'm prone to doing when spending my time off in the UK. I mainly have both my brothers and a couple of (very) close friends to thank for the chauffeuring duties and endless entertainment.  And of course, all my hosts at all the places I stayed, slept and was fed need to be acknowledged and thanked. I'm still having great difficulty shifting off the extra flab I acquired in that short period! Not forgetting the family I left behind who gave me leave to be away from home for that long and did a great job holding fort in my absence

The 3 weeks went by surprisingly quickly and despite the length of my stay, today I have people who still hold a grudge against me for not being able to meet with them while I was there.  I can only apologise and hope to make up at the next opportunity I have.

I  took probably a couple of thousand photos and upon my return in early March, I've since gone through a completely barren period during which I couldn't even bother to download my photos from my camera for several weeks. Talk about going through proper post-holiday blues..!

Thankfully, I feel rejuvenated and with renewed zeal. I uploaded some of the holiday photos today, notwithstanding it's some 8 weeks after the main event I went for, and having been nagged endlessly by those curious about what I spent so many hours capturing with my "intimidating" camera. Well, there you go....And hopefully, more to come soon.

:-)