' To New Beginnings ' a simple toast, a quick few words to soften the doom and gloom atmosphere of a bad news day,  in a past life. Layoffs, loss of status, and a sense of floundering, was lessened in severity by a night out. A family bar crawl, to bolster and support the stricken.  This phrase, 'To new beginnings' , a sort of  gallows humor to soften the sting, has become loosely our families'  motto and has grown into our own internal tradition.

That's what this blog is about new beginnings. We laugh every time we gather, clink glasses and utter those words, but they have become meaningful to the story that is all our lives. We all have moved forward, seeking replacements for the lost, re-threading the broken strand in the loom weaving the tapestry of our lives, taking stock of what we have and making it work. 

We'll touch on topics of just about anything. From cooking and food, cultural events, photography to making furniture from recycled re-purposed items.

A working photojournalist for the past 35 years, my job was what most people did as a hobby. I have had the privilege of witnessing history and trying to record it, informing, entertaining and educating the readers who we represented. A spiritually fulfilling career, albeit not that lucrative. To that end, my mission was to make my hobby or hobbies,  what most people did for work. I have learned to remodel houses, plumbing, tiling woodwork and furniture building. What ever it took to accomplish projects because monies were tight.  My real passion as a teen was the automobile and what made it tick.  This was in the era before the electronics and computers, a car was simpler to repair and customize. To this day it breaks my heart to have someone perform routine maintenance just for convenience sake.  We learned by working on our own cars and those of our friends. Those skills have stayed and translated, to somewhat of a lessor degree, in today's complex automotive world.

This brings to right now and how we got the name of the blog. Minding the Gap. An opportunity presented itself to my wife in the form of a job transfer that would take us to London. The publishing industry in the Midwest has taken a terrible turn. The newspaper we worked for was hit hard by the recession, laying off staff to near epic proportions. The private sector reduced the need for any kind of photographic work, as well and for the past several years the market has taken a nose dive  (many topics here for future blogs). With my prospects limited in the short run, the trip across the pond was a no-brainer.

Mind the Gap.  A phrase painted on the the platforms of the Tube underground in London. Reminding riders to be aware of their surroundings. Mind the Gap,  cross that ever so slight space,  between the train doors and the platforms edge. Mind the Gap, know where you came from, but look ahead to where you are going.

That's how I interpret Mind the Gap. Life gives you an opportunity to see where you are at the moment and where you want to go. As with the train platform, jumping from that solid, safe concrete pad into the flexible, forward moving train is an exercise in faith and future.

It's a simple mantra, to know where you are and where you came from, but also, urges and encourages you to step forward as well. Look before you leap, but leap none the less.

The gap is that space that you must cross to get from point A to point B, physically , metaphorically, and or spiritually. Be it learning the skills to cut and lay tile, because the bathroom needs a new floor.  Going to night class to learn a new skill set so that you get to the next level of your career. Accepting criticism in order to grow and develop personally and professionally.

We are imperfect beings, we all have gaps. The gulf between the train platform and train car, for some, is as wide as an ocean. For others it's just a hairline crack.

I know my gaps. I know where I have been, but don't really know where I am ultimately heading. I know what skills I have, which ones need honing and those yet to be discovered.

This exercise is going to be my gap, my journey of discovery. I hope some of you will follow along. Some days it may be serious, some days not. We'll explore places and things. Talk about food, travel and maybe even a little furniture building. I'm not here to preach, to teach or to sway anyone to any particular opinion or point of view. I'm just getting ready to make that leap.