Hobbies

At one time, many years ago, writing was a hobby of mine.  My real job was doing well in school, getting my degree, and landing a job as a technician.  I wrote occasionally for fun.  Then I lost my job so had to fill the hours.  I did this by researching a story about a young girl who witnessed the building of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.  I discovered that I enjoyed researching and loved writing full-time.

When my hubby and I decided I should stay at home to raise our children, writing became more than a hobby.  I began honing my craft--writing, re-writing, and writing again.  I read books on writing and even took a correspondence course on how to write for children.  I submitted my work and slowly the rejection letters became personal.  Writing young adult fiction became my career.

Now, my hobby is photography.  It is a different way of expressing my creativity and can be lots of fun.  I began when I photographed our honeymoon where mushrooms captured my enthusiasm.  I developed a love for capturing flowers and plants 'on film'.  Well, slides/film are an ancient medium today with the advent of digital photography.  Just as the computer changed the way I wrote, digital photography changed the way I took pictures.  No longer do I need to worry about straight horizons or bad lighting.  Even 'dirt' in a photo can be removed.  I've taken out offensive graffiti and even created a hand where none existed in the original piece.  I've removed unwanted people from photos and moved others around.  It's fun but still a hobby.

Today, something happened that surprised me.  While in Aurora, we had wet snow fall that coated all the budding trees with ice.  I braved the elements and took photos of my son's apple tree.  I posted it with others of our trip.  My sister, Lynda, whose photography goes beyond hobby status, sent a copy of it to a friend of hers who is a landscape designer.  The woman loved it and wanted an 8 x 10 which she could frame.  Suddenly, my hobby has appealed to someone who wishes to hang my 'art' in her living room.  This is pretty heady stuff.