What I mean is that the photos today are all about me. While I was happy snapping photos of the trees and views, my hiking buddy, Reneta, had her camera trained on me an awful lot- this is only a small selection of the photos she took.

I am a star (sigh.)!

So – today is Simon’s first day at the Nikkei Centre. For me, it’s been a day of chores and tons of contemplation. I got into the zen-zone (ZZ) while I was walking the dogs this afternoon on the Galena Trail. I was not necessarily trying to figure out my life and my future, as I was endeavouring to open the doors to what is real and what is possible as well as what I want. It’s an interesting combination.

What do I want?

Where am I now? (what is real)

What is possible, given where I am?

I’m not saying that I have the answers, but the questions are interesting.

I looked at what is possible and more and more it looks like Vancouver Island is no longer in the cards. The price of everything there has gone through the roof. And those prices are going to continue to shoot upwards. Vancouverites are moving there with money to burn. We don’t have that. To rent a house – well, the cost is astronomical.

So – that may be what I want, but is it possible?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

If not, then what? Stay here? Can I do that?

As I said, I have no answers. Only questions. But it’s good to ask those questions. Let them roam around in my mind.

And while I do that, I water the garden and hike in the alpine and also contemplate the future of my writing. That too is at a crossroads.

Why is it that after so many years of serenity, I know appear to be careening from one existential crisis to another?

And that’s another good question that I can allow to roam around in my mind.