New Chapter

One's life could be looked upon as chapters in a book. At least that's how I view it, but it's probably because books have been an important part of my life since my earliest recollection. Chapter One obviously deals with getting born, Chapter Two is about that first year when so many changes occur. The following chapters would be about the different stages of your life as you grow into a child, a teenager, an adventurous 20-something, and so on.

In "The Book of My Life" I have reached Chapter 62 1/4.  Just like a certain platform at King's Cross is numbered 9 3/4, we don't always need whole numbers to make the place or event significant. I started this chapter on January 1, 2015. That was the day I officially retired from my working career as a library assistant with the Calgary Board of Education spanning 28 years in four school libraries. Most of those years were good years and I cherish the fond memories of kids' excitement of books they read and the funny comments they made of just about anything that entered their mind. Like the kid who stopped by the circulation desk and asked me "why is your hair grey on top?" A legitimate question if you don't know and wonder why people's hair changes colour! Inquiry-based education at its finest :)

I wrestled with the decision to retire for a couple of years... when would be the best time financially?... how long would I have the physical strength to keep going?... one more year and then I'll quit... After I made the decision, with the support of my soul mate, and the process was initiated, it was freeing somehow, and I couldn't wait for the last day of work to arrive. Every day during those last two months I thought it never would, but it did.

So here we are, a few pages into Chapter 62 1/4. I can't say I've figured this whole retirement thing out yet, but I'm sure I will eventually. It's a process to find a new daily rhythm that works for me. One thing I've always said is that I have to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and I intend for this blog to be one reason. Most of you know I have a passion for photography, so I thought to myself, "why not start a blog and post a picture once every few weeks?" It gives me the incentive to get out there with my camera in hand to experiment, and it gives me a place to share the moment in time I capture. The universe seemed to agree with me as it painted beautiful sunrises in the sky several mornings in January. A perfect beginning to a new chapter... and a perfect first photograph on my blog.


Ribbons in the sky

For about a week in late January I wondered every morning what splendor the rising sun had in store for us today. I rolled up the kitchen blinds with anticipation... each morning the colour palette on the cloud formations was incredibly beautiful: orange, red, pink, blue, and every hue thereof. But only for a moment--with every passing minute, the colours changed, and then they were gone. But I had witnessed the beauty of a new day, and how can a day be anything but good after a start like this? While I took several pictures that week I chose to share this one from January 21, not just because of the colours, but also because of the unusual cloud formation. Cirrostratus clouds are thin layered clouds composed of ice crystals that form a veil covering all or part of the sky [Met Office, UK]. I aimed my camera down the street from our driveway for this image shortly after 8 am... I saw it in my mind all through breakfast.