Since the start of the pandemic, my time to go out and take pictures has plummeted. I'm wary of spaces with other people, and I just don't have the freedom I used to; the kids are home with us all the time.
Shortly before the pandemic, however, both of my kids started taking a real interest in LEGO. I played with LEGO almost exclusively as a child but essentially stopped by the time I was a teenager. Now, however, the kids' interest plus my lack of non-screen hobbies means I'm spending time digging through containers full of bricks all over again.
Lucky for me, LEGO has been producing kits geared toward advanced builders and adults for years now, so it’s been easy to find challenging and rewarding sets just for me. I’ve so far assembled a classic car, a historic Swiss locomotive, and the above pictured Ducati sport bike. Not only is it fun to put these together at the table while my kids build their own stuff; LEGO kit designs have seriously improved since my youth. Carefully thought-out sub-assemblies mate satisfyingly with the main structure, and the pendulum seems to have swung back toward building components rather than a reliance on custom, set-specific pieces.
Pretty sure this will finally be the year of a train around the Christmas tree. And it'll be made out of LEGO bricks.