Rise & Set

It takes love to hold on when you want to let go.

It takes love to let go when you want to hold on.

– Kate McGahan

We are moving.

Packing up this home of ours, downsizing , editing out stuff, distributing, donating, and cherishing.

We are letting go.

In preparation, I’ve read the life-changing books of tidying up and death cleaning. I’m following the rituals laid out therein. And, as much as I want this ( to rid my life of the unnecessary accumulation of material stuff), I’m here to tell you – it’s a gruelling process.

But we are getting there, certainly over half way now. Just a few more weeks before we are outta here, and there’s nothing like a deadline!!

We will be saying good bye to this beloved view, which has gifted us countless beautiful sunrises – each one uniquely breathtaking. There have been many mornings when all four of us have gathered at the window together to witness the start of another day. I bet I’ve taken a thousand photos of this view. Shared a few here, in fact.

But life is all about change.

The time has come for us to free up some time. For a new start. Our “empty-nester” house.

So! (Against my better judgement and) to my husbands absolute delight, we are building a new house. At the moment, it’s just an idea on paper, but once complete the new house will afford us views of sunsets. Here….

It’s going to be good. Trading early morning coffee for cocktails at sunset, perhaps? Sunrises for sunsets.

WPC – rise/set

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Ascend

I’m cooling my heels in downtown Toronto. Husband is working here and I tagged along for a pre-Christmas visit with my youngest son. And even though I’m sitting pretty high (in a hotel room on the 42nd floor), the view from here has me looking up. Way up.

Toronto’s iconic CN Tower is practically next door. Built in 1976, and the equivalent of a 147 story building, the Tower held the title of the world’s tallest freestanding structure for 32 years. Now, I think, it ranks 9th in the world and 3rd or 4th in the western world. Something like that. Everyone wants to go UP, UP, UP it seems …

If you are so inclined, you can travel by glass elevator – through the channel in the middle of the structure – to the observation deck and dine in a revolving restaurant which obviously offers amazing views.

Last summer, my very brave (crazy?) sister participated in the Sky Walk – in which she paid for the privilege of being strapped in a harness and hung over the side of the building from a platform ABOVE the observation deck!

And at night, the whole thing it’s lit up. I noticed the colour of the elevator shaft moves and changes as the car travels up and down.

These photos are not great. My excuse is that they were all taken through the window from the warm coziness of inside the hotel.

Did I mention it’s a tad chilly here in Toronto this week? A cold snap has descended (after a pretty mild autumn) and it’s been getting colder every day! This morning we woke to -14C, with a wind chill of -27. It feels like -27 out there!!! So! Photos are being taken from inside.

You can see “smoke” off the lake this morning – as the relatively warmer water evaporates off the lake. And if you look very closely, you can see the vapour reach up for the clouds. Mesmerizing pretty … from in here.

WPC – ascend

Rounded

Dew drops on my pumpkin.

WPC – rounded

Layered

The sun rising up over Rose Bay on a Monday morning in September.

Above the the trees, over the bay, past the headland and through the clouds …

WPC- layered

Order

If there hadn’t been women we’d still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends. Orson Welles

All fall in!  

Lined up and ready for dinner!!!

This lot arrived compliments of our generous neighbour… who just happens to be a lobster fisherman. A happy surprise phone call on a Sunday morning!

They were deliciously fresh, of course. But. Still. I can help but wonder just how hungry must the first person to eat a lobster have been ….  (it’s a perennial question for me.). There’s a lot of amour on those “sea bugs”.

WPC – Order

Good Morning Rose Bay!

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. – William Blake

This quote works for me!!! (A notoriously slow starter in the morning)

Spare

This scene is part of my morning commute. This beautiful Lunenburg Dory greets me in the morning and again in the afternoon. 

Now, I am not a morning person.  Slow to rise, and constantly underestimating the time it takes to get out the door generally makes for a rushed, and frazzled drive to work. I have always been that way. 

When I see scenes like this one, where the water is calmand the morning light is perfect, I regret not having the time for a photo. No time to stop. 

But on this particular morning (last Wednesday) I couldn’t resist.  I could not. I pulled over, hauled out my phone, quickly snapped the shot, then rushed off.  Not a second to spare to check the photo.

Later, however, when I caught my breath,  I was glad I stole the moment.  Maybe, tomorrow I’ll get up a bit earlier 😉 .

WPC – spare

Good Morning, Sunshine!!

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.  Don’t go back to sleep – Rumi

Dawn over that Atlantic on the very first morning of our holiday on the beautiful Island of Barbados  – February 2014   (Oh my! I could go back there….)

Weekly Photo Challenge – Early Bird

Shall We ……?

Express Yourself – Weekly Photo Challenge

Serenity

A soft July morning in lovely Lunenburg………
Weekly Photo Challenge – Serenity