A Journey of Discovery in Retirement:

 A few years back I published an article entitled "Life Begins at 60" for the Renaissance magazine. This was my first discovery - that I could become creative and productive in ways not considered when I was in the midst of a long career as a teacher while raising two daughters.

This Website is one of DISCOVERY. 

For me, it is the experience of creating it and sharing with you some the discoveries I have made in my retirement. It is also exciting to realize you can "keep growing, keep learning and keep discovering life."  That is the theme of this enterprise and this website. 

When I retired there were no definite plans since I had few opportunities to think about what I wanted to do. Overwork and exhaustion took its toll but our yearly trips to England in the summer helped me to rebalance. I treasured these holidays and took lots of pictures which came with many memories. 

I started painting landscapes from those pictures and found that I could produce something I quite liked. I next started taking pictures with an eye to painting them and my photography improved greatly as a result of this increased attention to focus and detail. 

Following this leap into Art, I took my curiosity about the landscape and the history of England further and started to produce Travel Guides based on our experiences and my research. 

The printing and publishing of my guides led down another path. I created Night Courses based on these guides which I presented two to three times a year with the Ottawa-Carlton District School Board and once at Carleton University's Learning in Retirement programme.

While the research and our experiences were reflected in the books that I produced. my paintings represented the love and appreciation for the country we were exploring and discovering. This enterprise therefore is a Discovery of History, Hiking and Nature seen on our hikes in England and reflected in the paintings and books described. The Joy and Appreciation of these discoveries has informed my life and my retirement. It has and continues to be a Journey of Discovery which I would like to share with you.