Another year has come and gone. When I look back on this day last year, I was catching a plane from Vancouver to Calgary after a weekend search for a new home in British Columbia. For the second New Year in a row I was in the midst of a move to a new province and anticipating a new set of adventures. Flash forward to this New Year and you will see a photo taken from the balcony of the new home I chose here in lovely Coquitlam. Like Alberta before it, the skies are endless here and draw you in with their ever-changing moods and weather. They force reflection and often induce a sense of peace that can wash over you like an ocean wave.

This past week I have tried to write my usual “New Year Big Reflection Piece” but words escaped me. For the first time in years (read a lifetime really) I have not felt very “writerly.” I still do not feel it. And I have not picked up my beloved camera in some time either. I guess you can say I don’t feel “picturely” either. As many of you now know, it has been a tough year personally, and I imagine I’m dealing with the exquisite pain that comes from loss. For the first time I have experienced the death of an immediate family member, my Dad, and to quote singer/songwriter Adele and her gift of prose, “They say that time’s supposed to heal ya but I ain’t done much healing.” I miss my Dad daily. He was such a strong presence in my life, even across the many miles between Forest and Coquitlam (a place-name he struggled to say, bringing a smile to both of us). I miss our Sunday phone calls. I miss our talks about the Jays and the Leafs and how they fared the day and week before. I miss our talks about my job – Dad was my biggest career cheer leader, and he believed in me relentlessly. I miss him asking about my beloved Jeep and his weekly “did you check the oil, Pat?” I miss his decency. And most of all his generous, unbounded love. I cannot help missing these things as they were as essential to me as breathing.

Now I must learn to breath again. I know I will. And I guess I must have some patience (not a typical trait for we redheads!). My plan? To pick up my camera today and go for a photo hike again. To put one foot in front of the other until I remember the gratitude I always feel for being alive and experiencing the beauty that surrounds me, especially here on the west coast where the mountains meet the ocean.

Gratitude for a life well lived is the gift that Dad gave me and I will give it back in spades this year! This is my resolution.

May 2016 bring you health, happiness, and the knowledge that you are well-loved, no matter where you are. And don’t forget to check the oil!

Happy New Years from The Vagabond Photographer.