A Lake and A Pub

April 25, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Westwood Lake, situated in the foothills of Mt. Benson, Nanaimo, is an unexpected surprise. Pulling into the parking lot, I am eager to get out and explore. The parking lot fronts a beach area and there are trails leading in either direction – over 5 km of walking trails, as well as mountain biking trails […]

Healing Steps

April 24, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Fear is insidious; it creeps into the psyche and buries itself deep without any conscious effort. It manifests in anxiety, stalls progress, and threatens to define its host. Today, I did something I haven’t done in well over four years; I went for a walk in the woods, unattended. I took my camera and my […]

To Twitter or Not to Twitter

April 23, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Facebook is dying,” I hear from several friends, some of whom are social media “experts”. I use Facebook to keep in touch with close friends and family. I deleted a number of people when I got sick – mostly work acquaintances for whom I seemed to drop off the face of the earth. I didn’t […]

Englishman River Falls, BC

April 21, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

A break in the rain inspires an outing, and we grab our cameras and jackets and head north along the main highway. We are looking for signs to the Englishman River Falls. The route is well marked. This drive, like many others we have taken, is lined by tall trees, taking us deep within the […]

More of Nanaimo

April 20, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Illness and old bodies are taking their toll on us, and as a result we are pacing ourselves more, taking days off between outings, try to regain some semblance of balance. It is easy to hibernate when the rain is pouring down, but as soon as the sun shows up, there is an urge to […]

Art: Still Learning

April 19, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Clouds mesmerize me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a clear, blue sky, but clouds are the stuff of poetry, lending themselves naturally to personification, often drawing my lens to their ever-changing moods. I searched for You-Tube videos on how to paint clouds. After watching three different artists work rapidly and with great confidence I […]

WPC: Prolific

April 19, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

From a distance, I thought it was an island, but on closer inspection it was a mass gathering of surf scoters: Who congregates better en masse than seagulls? Well maybe these sea lions: This week’s Daily Post photography challenge is prolific.

Approach with Caution

Warning: approach with caution. Despite the overt friendliness of the individual bearing this warning label, please note that should you choose to engage her in conversation the management cannot be responsible for helping you disengage. Initiate dialogue at your own risk. (Today’s challenge: what would your warning label read?)

For Nadine

Let us line our memories side by side, build a raft to hold her, let our tears flow as one, form a river to carry her, line her way with echoes of her spirit: her giving heart, her smile, a vibrancy imprinted on our hearts, forever blessed for having been a part of her. (Today’s […]

Whales and Protocols

“What is that?” a boy, two seats over echoes my thoughts “I’ve been wondering that too!” I blurt, disregarding social protocols. What are the protocols for people herded onto a ferry, headed across open water, seated in close proximity to neighbours? “A whale?” his mother asks, obviously as eager as I to catch sight of […]