The Ex

Ferris wheel, CNE August 2014

STILL RECOVERING FROM OUR VACATION, the family made our annual trip to the Canadian National Exhibition yesterday. We've done The Ex every year since before the kids were born, and at this point in time it feels like we're hoarding Ex days waiting for the first August one of the kids says "Thanks mom and dad, but I'm going with my friends."

We bought ride bracelets for the whole family, which meant we gorged on the midway more than the unhealthy fair food. Did a rollercoaster (but not the scary Crazy Mouse) and both ferris wheels. The kids hit every fun house they could find and we did the Alpine Bobs twice and the Polar Express - the best ride on the midway - three whole times. It was great.

Looking up. CNE  August 2014

Late in the evening, settled in while waiting for the Polar Express to start up, I took in the scuffed plywood, the chipped paint, the light bulbs radiating out from the ride's hub, and wondered whether this might be the pinnacle of my life. Surrounded by my children and the woman I love, my health basically OK; I know it's never been better than this, but is this the best it will ever be?

It's a question that's been on my mind a lot lately as I've been excavating my photo archives, confronted by the possibility that the fury of work I did in the '90s was some sort of zenith, professionally if not creatively. I'll still take photos, and some of them might be among my best work, but there's every likelihood that my profile and earnings might never match what I managed twenty years ago.