This whole year has been a hangover from the lockdown era of 2020, and I’m only just finding myself able to get back out on the road right now. As such, I’m especially jealous — but delighted — when I read the works of contributors like Tai Strietman (p54), Michel Keijman (p14) and Chris Sergeant (p6), recounting their face-to-face interactions with fish in the wild. Lockdown hasn’t stopped aquarists from being expressive, either, as evidenced by the prodigious creative streak shown by relative aquascaping newcomer Jordan Stirrat (p46). Perhaps my motto for the last year should have been ‘if you can’t beat them, join them, and if you can’t join them, read about them instead!’ It’s certainly worked okay for me...