friend *ship*

Friendships come and go in life, that's just the way life is. Some friends resonate with you more than others, or there's more of a connection somehow...
I seem to be reflective - a friend of mine has moved to Ontario - already almost a month ago (I started this post the day before she was leaving). She and I have not known one another very long (only a few years, really) yet I feel I have known her most of my adult life. It's odd really. There are very few people I truly connect with, or let in. I am sure some people let anyone in and maybe that's better, difficult to say; it's just not my way.

I was speaking with another friend of mine a few weeks ago and she was thinking about a play on words somehow ... friend and ship. What can be said about both?

Friends are people you trust, people you share your life with, in one form or another. A ship can be coming or leaving. So that is interesting. That's exactly what I eluded to earlier. Perhaps why this word was formed - people who you are close to (aka "friends") for a short time or a long time (aka "ships"). I'm sure there is an actual history to the word that I am not aware.

Basically, I am thoughtful and wonder why some people stay and some people step out of our lives or we leave them. We know we out grow people and they outgrow us. We all change as we age to a certain degree even though there is a core essence that remains.

I would like to celebrate the friendships that I've had throughout my life. Certainly there are many I have not seen for decades and likely will not ever see again. Yet, there are some who always remain. They know me, I know them, they trust me, I trust them, they help me, I help them, we laugh and we cry... together.

That is friendship...

looking back before I move forward

I am heading to Europe next weekend. When was the last time I was there..? I believe it was 2014.  I am not going back to Amsterdam or Paris - I am going to Riga, Latvia and The Mosel Valley in Germany. I have been to Riga before (2012) but I have not explored any wine regions in Germany before.  It'll be interesting, lots of castles to see in Germany!

Thought I would post a few shots from Riga from the last trip before I go again.

Freedom Monument

Then of course there is the black cat with its tail in the air. 

   

I love old walls so here is one shot of that...

And the last image I'll add is St. Peter's Cathedral. My aunt was baptized here.

Forever.... again

So here it goes again, nearly a year after my last post. I had these brilliant ideas to post about my "take a photo a day for a year" yet... basically, it didn't happen.
It has been a year (more or less) since I started my photograph a day and I posted, I believe, once.
I retrospect, I didn't really enjoy it. Sure, there were days that I took some fantastic images and there were other day when I simply did not. I'd leave work realizing that I had not taken a photo yet (and what would I have taken a photo OF exactly by that point? my desk?) and had to go home or somewhere to take an image. There are quite few images of things in my condo, that's for sure.
I did enjoy my previous endeavour of being creative everyday for a year (which is how this blog started) - more options! or maybe I was in a different head space. I likely could have drawn/sketched more this past year and maybe that would have been enough. Difficult to say at this point. Basically, it wasn't what I was thinking it would be last year when I started. Tomorrow is my last day of the year. I forgot to take a photo only 3 days.

There were some fun times over the past year though. The one of the best being the fire hydrant study. I have only one image on Flickr:


I plan to post more about this study later...

I did enjoy my images in my bicycle mirror (not "reflective" of my blog title). (:




And my fav (the last shot done this way)


Probably my favourite shot of the year is of my brother. He "took one for the team". I said I always wanted to know how long the white lines were on the road. I did go through this when I was younger (in my teens) so I had a bit of a clue. A construction worker beside where I live asked what we were doing and I told him. I also had a tape measure with me and mentioned to him that the white lines are 3.1 metres (basically 10 feet).
Thank you Michael! xox