6 Months In

Nine months ago I came to a decision that serving the community as a peace officer and a police dispatcher for 36 years was enough. We staged our house and sold it a few months later. Six months ago I finally retired from law enforcement and a few weeks later I moved to Sandy Hook on the Sunshine Coast. It is a beautiful quiet place that has definitely allowed me healing. I’ve taken what time I could from unpacking and setting up house to do just that. There were a lot of things to do: Finishing an enormous basement room, renovating bathrooms and kitchen, reclaiming a yard neglected for about two years by the previous owner due to illness and other issues. 

All this has kept me from writing, which is one of the things that I most wanted to do once I got here. However I made a decision that setting up house had to come first. That and one other dream.

I had a simple hobby telescope as a kid and I’d always wanted to get back into amateur astronomy. A few days after the house sold I purchased a brand new Schmidt Cassegrain reflector telescope and joined the Sunshine Coast chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Last month I became their media director and part of the observatory committee. Our RASC chapter is building an observatory at the Sechelt airport and I’ve participated in work crews to see this happen.

I’m happy to say that in the last few days I got back to the keyboard and got writing again. I’m going to get a few books out this year now that my time is my own.