Disclaimer: This post may be way too personal.

One of the points of reviving this blog back in February was to empty some of the desk drawers of my mind, and I knew not all of the topics I would address would be of general interest to the world. It's not an official blog of any publication and never has been, although I did use it 10 years ago as a means of repeating posts from a blog established by The Sun Chronicle, where I worked for 41 years prior to my retirement in 2018.

These days, this blog is mine and mine alone -- and that's why I want to share something personal with you. You've been warned.

I have fallen head-over-heels in love -- with a photograph.

It's a photograph of a real person, a photo of a woman (not a celebrity) whom I do not know at all, and will not identify here or even hint at because I realize this is the ultimate among pipe dreams. In fact, it would make me a complete fool if I even remotely tried to act upon it in any way, shape or form.

I'll offer a little bit of an explanation, though.

When I open Facebook, I'm often greeted with a feature called "People You Might Know." What follows are several photos of individuals that may have some connection to me, or have common Facebook friends. And several times in recent weeks, the first photo on the scroll has been of this particular woman, who shares three mutual "friends" with me. I'm very picky about Facebook friends and I usually don't approve requests if I don't interact regularly with those asking to befriend me, so they are legit.

And every time I see the photo, something ignites inside my aging heart.

I thought of trying to describe the pose of the woman in the photo, but then I realized that if I am too descriptive, someone might say "hey, I know that photo!" and I'd probably be ratted out.

All I will say is that the woman's eyes are penetrating -- expressive and welcoming, as if to say, "you would really like to know me." And she has an absolutely flawless smile. Her image is absolutely haunting. I'd like to say more, but it's too risky.

That's as far as my interest goes, or shall I say, how far I will allow it to go. My interest sounds strictly superficial and shallow -- that's probably all it is -- and it would be pretty creepy of me to investigate any further. It's almost to the point where I'd like to prevent her photo from coming up on that list, but I've got to admit, I enjoy looking at it.

It's the sort of photo that would inspire a writer to create a fictional narrative around it. And yes, I've given that some thought. There's something inspirational about the image I saw. But I'm also fortunate there, in that I never finish anything I start, so I'll probably never get around to that.

No, the best I can offer is a wish that my mystery woman has a good life, one that's comfortable, productive and safe.

And I feel better just getting that off my chest. Time to return to the real world.