New Beginnings

There have been recent changes to my life and with them new beginnings . I have reconnected with my only son,after many, many years. The results have been bittersweet, but rewarding nevertheless. Naturally, after so much time, both of us have been very cautious in our re- acquaintancing, but, for me, it has been a welcome confirmation that no matter what may, eventually, unfold, he is alive and healthy and happy in his life. Such matters are never easy, but they can only be positive in the final analysis, no matter how they play out. To know something for certain, is better than to surmise and never confirm that thing. Jason and I will follow whatever path our destinies have prescribed, to whatever end that may lead. The journey may be short, or, lifelong, but  it will ultimately take us to a destination probably not of our choosing.
Regardless, it will be the right destination and the path now lies before us. New beginnings, do that, they change our direction, in ways we did not anticipate and send us headlong down unknown roads. Life is always an adventure and adventures are predicated on facing the unknown.

The second new beginning is somewhat less dramatic, but a beginning nonetheless. After the recent deaths of my two dogs, I have a new canine in my life. She is a very pretty, blue merle coloured Border Collie named Darla. Yes, as in the Little Rascals Darla. She is a champion and has titles in Agility, Fly ball and Frisbee competition and being a suck. She is retired now and at nine years of age is content to show off as opposed to compete. Strangely, she absolutely loves cats, which is a good thing, since I have several on the farm as well as Mr. Snooks, who is the only house cat and an intimidating thirty pounds. She follows me around like a shadow and thinks nothing of occupying every square inch of leg room under my desk. She has also been/is a certified therapy dog, next to cats, people are her favourite thing to love. For a border collie, she is very laid back and that's a good thing too, as horses and hyper-active dogs do not always do well together.

These beginnings bring me to a third, which ties in with previous discussions in my blog. I have finally begun to explore digital capture. It has been a long time coming and is not without many reservations, but this new beginning is a huge step for me, much like Jason's contacting me was for him, I am sure and definitely like Darla's re-homing has been for her. I have not done much, at the moment and I do not have all the technology sorted out either, but it is certainly a new adventure and certainly a mixture of intimidation and expectation.
When he was a very small child, I used to bring Jason on motor sport assignments with me and gave him a point and shoot camera to play with. He took to it immediately and with no formal coaching, began creating some very impressive images. To some small degree, minus the impressive part, I am finding that same occurrence with digital capture, as I begin to explore it. I am still not rushing out to shoot assignments, any time soon, but I am intrigued with the prospect, I must say. I still prefer film over electronics and I think I always will, but that is the past and electronics seem, for the moment, to be the future. At any rate, now that cameras are not obsolete the moment you buy them , I can justify moving to the new medium. Who knows, perhaps I will embrace dog photography as my new beginning in this new,to me, field. After all, I have a new muse to inspire me.