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.
“No guarantee about this RV park,” Ric said as we pulled off the highway and entered the spaghetti bowl of roadways into San Antonio. Bit by bit we moved off the main thoroughfares onto city streets, and as we did the landscape changed drastically. Abandoned buildings with overgrown lots popped up between commercial and industrial […]
Never understood it when Dad called me cheeky as a kid, although I always recognized a tone of approval. Then I saw it in my own children: that look of sheer defiance that melted my heart every time. This photo of our youngest granddaughter exemplifies the epitome of cheekiness, don’t you think? (In response to […]
What is unresolved in childhood resurfaces in adult relationships; it rears its head with all the finesse and grace of a child throwing a tantrum. I am guilty of such behaviour. Movie nights with Mom happened once a week. Dad would be at work, and Mom would make a big pot of buttered popcorn and […]
What I love about my husband is that he is a planner. Post Memphis, he had arranged for us to spend a few nights in Hot Springs, Arkansas, noted for its healing baths and spas. His timing was impeccable. We arrived on a Monday, and unfortunately one of the popular spa houses was closed the […]
The ‘misspent’ years of my youth were dedicated to sneaking into blues bars, underage, to catch the soulful music of Muddy Waters, Downchild Blues Band, and even B.B. King himself. I was hooked on blues, so the thought of visiting Memphis thrilled me. Beale Street was top of my list of ‘must sees’. To kick […]
“Is there a good place to eat around here? And how about a grocery store?” “Just up the road is the town. There is one Bar-b-que place, but it will be closed up by now – they sell out fast.” It was 3:00 p.m. “How about Mexican?” “There are five Mexican restaurants, three that are […]
Jacob is a typical, somewhat difficult teenager, according to his father, but when a classmate of Jacob’s is found dead, Andy Barber is forced to take a closer look at his son’s behaviour and determine if he could be housing a killer. William Landay’s suspense novel is told through the perspective of Andy Barber, a […]
It was a perfect summer evening for a gathering – warm but with enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. Holding onto my companion’s hand, I lead him through the throngs of people to find my fellow co-workers. Micheal and I had dated casually, but it wasn’t going anywhere. He still loved his ex, […]
Originally posted on One Woman's Quest: Sipping my second cup of morning tea, I breathe in the solitude that nature dropped on my doorstep overnight: great mounds of white, silently commanding the world to a halt. The tea is extra sweet and warming when accompanied by the luxury of leisure time. Shaking off the…
“Don’t you get scared?” Yes and no, I think. Many things frighten me: a decline in my health, the loss of my spouse, something happening to one of my family members while I’m so far away from home. This is not what my mother is referring to, though. At 90, her view of the States […]