Behind Closed Doors

As you know, it’s January, the month named after the Roman god Janus. And Janus, of course, is the god of transitions and beginnings; of gates and doorways.

I’m a  January girl – born one exact month after the winter solstice. Maybe that might explain why I look to the future with my feet always rooted firmly in the past. It might also explain why I’ve always had an eternal fascination with doors. That’s the story I’m going with but, of course, you could say that I’m just curious and nosy.

Whatever the truth is, I find it hard to resist their allure. Some of them seem to have such grandiose aspirations.

Others display the patina of the passing years with extreme nonchalance.

Doors are portals to worlds and stories which are not  ours; to lives we cannot share. There is a mystery behind each door; a story waiting to be told.

I like to imagine what lies behind them. What secrets they protect.

With my imagination in over-drive I dream up fantastic tales and improbable histories.

What better way to pass a rainy, January evening? Until next time …

Location: Valletta, April 2014

2014: A Year of Small Discoveries

Looking forward. Looking back. Like a pendulum, my thoughts swing between what was and what might be. New hopes and dreams come with the birth of each year. But where we came from, our journey over the past 12 months is important too. We may walk near, or wander far from home, but each tiny step is a chapter in the story called Life.

I will always remember 2014 as the year that started in sunshine and ended with  swirls of tiny snowflakes that died an instant death as soon as the landed on anything. It could have been an omen. Or it was just a personal lesson that the impossible can happen. Despite what we may think, we are not in complete control. Which is perhaps why 2014 has been my year of small discoveries. A year during which I have taken the big picture and broken it down into teeny, tiny pixels. And then I re-arranged them all to tell a story. My story.

A story of finding magic  where none really exists. A story that I saw with my eyes but felt with my soul.

Like the colours of the winter sea.

Or the beauty of a spring sunset that set the sky on fire.

Like the splendour and decay that is Valletta

Or the crazy beauty of wild spring flowers.

Like London – my beloved, quirky, impossibly beautiful London.

Or swimming in secluded, almost inaccessible bays.

Like the Baroque grandeur of the Grand Master’s Palace.

Or the lure of wild places, crumbling chapels and unexpected colours on gateways that lead … Where?

Well, that is a story for another day; another year. Last year’s discoveries will hopefully lead to this year’s adventures. Come walk with me. I promise you will not be disappointed.