Time: a challenge more than a choice, most of the time. For most of us, as we progress, a learned experience from confrontation to cooperation.
We come to accept the realities we acquire and, armed with gratitude and knowledge of what has passed, step forward into days and years ahead. Decades.
Wisdom comes from knowing when to speak and when to shut up. A learned experience, avoiding confrontation anytime, in the name of contentment.
Fill your days — whenever you can, however you can — on your own terms. A calendar gladly misleads; or do we simply misunderstand our glorious perceptions.
“Christmas lights are like healing embraces, wrapping us in gentle comfort.” -Richard Palmer
The lights, the trees, the festivities; with the entertainment and travel, the rush that surrounds the season can become overwhelming. There is such an emotional build-up to this day.
Enjoy the moments and the memories with family and friends over the holidays but try to find a little time to yourself. Reflect, when you can, on loved ones no longer with you; those cherished friends and parents who once brought so much joy to this day. Hold your thoughts close. Feel the love embracing you.
Last evening, I went out for a walk with my camera. Inspired by the first meaningful snowfall of the season, I wanted to capture the snow as it covered up the dirty streets of Toronto.
For much of the past decade, I have been making photographs in and around this city. At first, it was my way of discovering my new home. Then, maybe, it became habitual. It provided me time to rediscover an art form I have enjoyed my entire life. I worked professionally in the newspaper industry through the ‘80s and ‘90s. The camera was a prolific partner long before that.
I know that in the coming days and weeks I’ll be looking at this city a little differently. Mid-January I will be leaving Toronto and returning to Winnipeg, where I have spent a good portion of my life. Each time I now venture out onto city streets, I know I am taking my final steps here.
I ended up, last night, in St. James Park. It is a park that has come very familiar to me. With its well-tended gardens and magnificent trees, it has become part of my landscape. Who knows how many days I have sat with my sketchbook or journal, photographed tulips or roses, or just relaxed under the trees with my morning coffee?
Last night, again, the trees captured my attention. The fading daylight and fresh snow provided stark contrast to the deep grey trunks and branches now stripped of greenery. With little light left in the day, I captured what I could. The images will be another reminder of my years in Toronto.
Geography. Topography, cartography, linear landscapes, even those vertically inclined, stretch beyond horizons we may never see. Others will. Personal point of view, perspective reflective of where we are or have been.
Along the plain, above grade. Skylines, timelines, lines of communication. Direction, intention, the scene itself bewildering as it is beautiful. Foreign lands, countries we may visit or have in the past. Terrain a domain. Home, known to another population.
