Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.
The atrocities of Auschwitz are no secret, and yet, every surviving story reveals another angle, not only of suffering and inhumanity, but also of the incredible endurance of the human spirit and kindness in the darkest of moments. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is about a young man, Jewish, who volunteers for work duty and finds […]
I’d been told that one street over from our house, behind the nursing home, there is a nature trail. Ric has been busy working – driving back and forth between the city – and I have been homebound, moaning about the dull weather, so I haven’t had a chance to see it for myself. Then […]
Beautiful are the large rock sculptures of Joshua Tree National Park. The large canyons in Arizona are also beautiful, although I’m too afraid of heights to get any closer than this. This snake bird, or anhinga is quite a remarkable, big bird. My granddaughter and I think big is best when it comes to bubbles. […]
Instinct pushes on despite inclement weather – a little less buzz. (This pot of mums sits outside the community centre, where I was surprised to find this little fellow hanging on despite the cold. That is tenacity! Image submitted for Cee’s Flower of the day.)
Everyday, in the aftershock of losing a seventeen year marriage, I sought out the river. I would say a prayer, then walk off the grief and strife, until I came to a bench, where I’d sit and contemplate the message of the flowing water. “Finding my inner peace”, is what my son called it. A […]
The distance between one Sunday and the next is always the same, time wise, and yet this week felt so much longer than most. Wednesday brought emotional upheaval, and subsequent exhaustion, and then Friday morning my 91-year-old mother was admitted to hospital, while Ric and I attended a funeral for an extended family member. Life […]
A window seat at the Mill Street Pub in Ottawa allots a new of the river, and the season’s finest. I think I found the place where angels store their wings. (For Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week Challenge: Through glass.)
The letter that arrives decades after it is post-marked is the first indication that Edie’s mother has been keeping secrets. Although her mother is not sharing any information, Edie is intrigued enough to investigate on her own. She finds herself visiting a decaying castle, where she encounters the Blythe sisters, and the mystery deepens. Fluctuating […]