This is my first blog in this new setting. It is another window opening. This old saw is often used to rationalize a situation that in the moment, leaves us feeling like crap. We need some thread of a positive straw to grasp onto (the window representing the new opportunity that must be better than the last because the last one really sucked.
When I step back and look over the past 63 years (at least those ones I can still remember), this closing of doors has occurred on a macro scale: two divorces, two life altering motorcycle accidents, failed business partnership and the attached loss of my retirement funds, loss of my job before my work was done, retirement for corporate life, development of asthma and bronchitis preventing me from working with oil paints that I love; to the micro: getting dumped by various women I have loved/liked, a failure in Grade 13 math, losing my favourite harmonica, a broken turn signal on my Harley.
As I consider the the closing doors (don't let the screen door hit your ass on the way out), there actually are windows of opportunity I can identify with the both the macro type closings and the micro as well. Each divorce led me into a new relationship that had its adventures, joys, and sorrows and the learning that comes from getting along with someone on a daily basis and facing life challenges together. People, meaning me because this is personal, change, Relationships begin and they end and it is is different for each of us.
Both motorcycle accidents led me into new career paths that actually were exciting, challenging, and in the end ultimately satisfying. The failed business partnership set me free from an impossible situation and let me grow both as a business person and as highly valued strategic thinker. Retirement left me asking myself What now? What now indeed. I fumbled around trying to get a business off the ground for my partner but the chemistry was wrong and that was a closed window I tried to go through and ended up with a forehead filled with broken glass. I re-discovered my love of motorcycles and bought a Harley. I only look back now to make sure no one is going to run me over. This year I have put over 24,000 miles on my Harley and I am still going strong. I am seeing the world in the intimate way that is only available to those of us who see the world from in the wind.
My asthma has disappeared except if I get chilled and if I spend time in high pollen or moldy areas or in an art studio filled with VOCs. My camera has become my preferred tool. I take everyday snaps to show people my travels and I take those serious shots where light, lines, shadow, composition all come into play. I do it all for the love of just doing it and having others enjoy the results through Facebook, Twitter and now this blog.
I have taken up the pen again and started writing poetry . This is a lifelong passion that comes out of the closet from time to time. I have content for about 3 volumes and now I am working on biker themes yet adhering to the Beat style I love that is reminiscent of Ferlinghetti and Farina.
On the micro level I am meeting friends and making friends in person on my travels and online through Facebook, BON, and other Biker social networking sites. I am freely expressing my inner self through how I live and through my lens and through my words.
I called this Blog An Echo Down the Road because all those closed doors are behind me and the closing is but an echo back up the road. And the echo down the road is the sound of my Rinehart exhausts as I head towards new adventures, new journeys, new meetings, and countless open windows.
A long first blog attempt. Now it is time to pack for a 3.5 hour run and two day trip across Florida to Port Charlotte to meet a new friend and to begin another adventure exploring the gulf coast. Watch my Facebook page for picture postings.
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