Happy Birthday to me.

Four years ago today I started blipping, which changed my life. It has forced me to dig deep every day for an image and some words. for which I am truly grateful.

So here's the thing and here's why its more than just another photo sharing site. It's like praying. Every day you have to find meaning; stop, maybe look back, maybe look forward. Find meaning. Don't just go to bed without reflection. Even when its tough to find something to talk about.

Tonight, with it getting late and the rain drizzling down outside I noticed I still had tax discs in my car window. Quite a few of them. But they have gone now, one of the things that were important four years ago and aren't any more. The digital age has swallowed them up.

Four years ago we had three cats; we sadly lost one but happily gained two. Do the math. We had a reactionary coalition now we have a reactionary Tory government. Not much change.

Four years ago we still had children; now they are all growed up. Our home was full of love and it still is; my children are wonderful, even though The Girl Racer is in Canada and I miss her loads. We are about to lose a laundry next door and gain retirement flats. Big change in the making. Oh and a small matter of a huge, pointless, damaging NHS re-organisation that was a charter for bullies and a goldmine for lawyers and management consultants. That's gone thank god. But I'm still getting over it.

Aged P has gone into a different world; then I was taking her out nearly every weekend and trying to keep things sane for her, myself and others. Now her life has shrunk to a care home lounge and a fortnightly visit from me with newspapers and a bar of galaxy. But TSM is a constant: a constant presence, a constant joy, and a constant challenge in the very best of ways. The house and garden look better than ever but there is of course more to do.

London is an endless source of pleasure but that still changes at breakneck speed. My work colleagues come and go, with quite a rapid turnover, but I'm blessed with good people in the workplace.

In the last four years I''ve photographed ice bucket challenges, Olympics, The Man From Uncle, graduation days, floods, Hogwarts,  Batmitzvahs, birthdays (including one 90th), Christmases... I've been to New York, Washington,  The Czech Republic, Israel, Malta and Poland ... I've blipped the world from high up in a light aeroplane and photographed the horrors of Auschwitz ... I've shot the Dizzle in theatrical performances and Top Gun busting weights ... and endless pictures of myself in sickness and in health ...

Some things have changed some things haven't. Happy birthday to me.

Makes you think doesn't it?