My husband and I enjoy planning vacations around museum-going, and in the past 10 years have enjoyed museum excursions to London, Washington DC, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Delaware, New York City, Western Massachusetts, and more. Our favorite time of the year to plan these trips is the week before Christmas — the cities and towns are always decorated with lights, lodging is usually a bit cheaper, and the crowds are thinned down prior to the holidays.

This year, fully vaccinated and boosted, and taking all precautions, we ventured north from Cape Cod to Cambridge and Boston, and enjoyed three days of touring museums, the Boston Public Library, the Freedom Trail, and finding great local restaurants.

I often take photographs of art and sculpture that I am drawn to, sometimes on a theme. On previous trips I’ve focused on hands, feet, lace, or other details. This time out, I focused on faces. Some of them seemed to be reflecting the emotions that many of us have felt in the last few years, and others radiated a kind of calm and peace that were inspiring. What do you see in these faces?

We’ve all had so many emotions to sort through in these past two years. This art, dating back to ancient times, illustrates so clearly that we are not alone in our modern-day sorrows and our joys.

I hope you can find inspiration from the art around you. See you in February.

—lucy