Good Morning!

Another beautiful day here at True North! That's what I call this place. When people ask me, "where's your cottage", I either say "Haliburton" or "Minden" or "Carnarvon". I can't make up my mind. The house is technically just outside the town of Carnarvon, which is in the Township of Minden, which is in the Haliburton Highlands. All Greek to anyone not from here, but most Ontario-ans have heard of Haliburton, that's why I use it.

Anyway, I said it was a beautiful day -- that's because they're ALL beautiful days up here. The weather has little to do with it, it's just the atmosphere, being here, that makes it beautiful. Today is cloudy and maybe a little damp, temperature in the low teens, but I'm up here...

I'm prompted to write because... well just because! We'll see if I can continue to use this as a medium for posting my thoughts on a regular basis.

So this morning, looking out the window, I'm pleased to see so many different species of birds enjoying my bird feeder(s). When I get back to the city I'm going to try to find a book to help me identify them, there are lots of them we've seen all the time but can't name. Those black guys, for instance, with irridescent green around the head and throat.

I was sitting here minding my own business when I heard a thud at the window. Couldn't figure it out until I looked down on the deck and saw a red headed woodpecker which had knocked itself out on the picture window. That's at least the third -- maybe the fourth -- species of woodpecker that has graced me with a visit. I went out with a pair of gloves on and went to pick him up. He was woozy and let me start to pick him up, then recovered and flew away. He came back about 5 minutes later and landed on the Austrian Pine just outside the window. I got a picture, which I'll work on a little later.

Hey, I just figured out what that black bird is -- it's a "Common Grackle". I don't like them much...

Anyway, enough for now. I've got to get some work done, then I'm heading back to the city. I'll do some photo processing later and put them up on the gallery. The best place to start on my gallery is the "monthly photos". I've got to get that reorganized too...

Starting Fresh!

Wow! It's been over a year since I last posted here. I'm not a "blogger"! The trouble is, I can't imagine why anyone would want to read my daily ramblings, so I don't know how to write it. Who is my audience? Why am I doing this?

Well I fancy myself a writer. I want to share my thoughts and events with people. Maybe someday this will be part of my "Legacy".

That's something I think about. When I die, I want to leave something behind. Until this moment, I thought my photos would be my legacy and I'm looking at compiling them into a book some day. But words can be my legacy too. Again, I have to settle on who my audience is before working out how and what to write down.

Back to photos: that's my passion right now. I don't think I'm great at it, but I'm pretty good. Composition -- seeing that image -- is my biggest challenge. I'd love to be able to take a course and learn more about it. Here's a picture I love, that I took last fall:


So what's new in my life since I last posted? Lots! I'll try to write more about them later, but here's a short list:

• I met Iris and we've moved in together. She's the lady in my life.


• I learned I have another cancer -- prostate. It's slow moving, so I don't expect it will be a problem for a while. I also have a urinary problem that doesn't look like it's going to go away.


• I bought this house up in Minden. I say "this house" because that's where I am while I'm writing this. Here's a picture of the living room:
  
  

Anyway, time to stop for now. I have work to do. I'll try to continue this tomorrow.