I've been trying to find the time since Christmas to create a new ref for myself. There has been a few things I'd been wanting to correct and refine, but the biggest catalyst was to turn my beard grey. When I finally had some time last week, I had a small list of things I wanted to update.

Firstly, the main 'grey' colour in my coat is a bit darker with a tiny hint of midnight blue. The bellyfur is now a darker grey with a very slight blue hue. Just enough blue in my fur to give it more character.

I extended my black paws up a bit to the my calves. It was something that I originally intended to do, but didn't for some unknown reason. I like the look of dark paws.

My ears are now edged in black rather than fully black. This is related to my aging a bit. I corrected my tail. It initially was white on top, but that's back when I was kinda new to things.

My eyes are still golden and my claws are still dark. I wanted to show a bit more of how my pawpads are constructed. My 'body' hair (should an artist wish to draw this) is now just as grey as my beard.

The biggest change I struggled with was my muzzle. I went back and forth about keeping it black or having it age into greyness. This opened up a lot of thoughts about my own aging.

Look - some things will happen as you age that you aren't exactly comfortable with. For me, it's the slower metabolism. No matter how much I increase the exercise, it still takes longer to work off a beer or a burger. Can't do much about that other than eat lettuce and bugs and I'm not about to do that.

Conversely, there's a lot to love about getting older. I've lived long enough to have a lot of stuff figured out by now. I am calmer about shit. I know that it's best not to freak out so much as to take a look and apply some reason and experience to the situation. Also, I've never been in better shape. Knowing what works for me in the gym and on the back of a bike has been exceedingly beneficial.

Which brings me back to my muzzle.

Aging is pretty much out of one's control (unless you die young, but that's another topic altogether). Some things are bound to happen that just...happen. I kinda didn't want to have my muzzle go wholly grey, but it did. And it will always remind me that I'm not always in complete control.

And I'm okay with that.