When the Unravelling Started

September 27, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

It was a neighbour girl that started it. We played together one day – a rare occurrence, as she seldom came outside. “How do you know you’re not adopted?” she hissed at me, as if to say: You don’t know everything. I started to answer, but then, the words got stuck. How did I know? […]

VJ’s Weekly Challenge #113: How It All Started

September 21, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

The meeting was both exciting and a letdown. Exciting because it was my first attempt at a social event in over three years, having been bed bound all that time. A letdown as soon as the participants talked about early morning walks as the best way to spot birds. Mornings were still tough for me, […]

It’s Not Easy Being Green…

September 20, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

…especially when you dwell in Northern climes. Now, down south, green is all the rage: (A male mallard in a local ditch, and green jays taken along the Rio Valley in Texas. For Bird Weekly challenge.)

In the Aftermath

September 18, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

All the fading bitsdetract – I am still alivepassion asserting. (A quick check in. I am recovering well; still needing lots of rest. Thanks for all the good wishes. Image from my collection.)

Rachel Sunshine

September 13, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

“Tell me a favourite memory from your travels,” my golden-haired nurse asked me as she scoured my bruised arms for an accessible vein. I’d blown another IV and options were limited. Rachel Sunshine I called her, this wisp of a young woman who, at first hospital-glazed glance, glowed a with a yellow aura. So I […]

VJ’s Weekly Challenge #112: Take Care

September 7, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Make sure you have lists for us when we come, my daughter messages me. Checklists with a gong to hit every time we complete a task, my son-in-law adds. We have no shortages of lists, in fact, every day or so, we are rewriting our lists: things to do, things to buy… Nowhere in those […]

Not Everything is “Stuff”

September 6, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

An apology, dear readers, if this week’s challenge came across as glib. By “stuff“, I was referring to the incidental: a broken foot, a set of stitches, a temporary setback. In no way did I intend to imply that trauma or loss is “stuff”. Some things, with a bit of grit, can be overcome. I […]

Domesticated

September 5, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The swans in nearby Stratford, are domesticated for the purpose of creating ambiance – replicating the original Stratford on Avon. Dug into my archives for this photo of a man with his two feathered pets. (For Bird Weekly challenge: domesticated birds.)

Pink!

September 4, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Pink petuniassuspended from white porch rail –gift to passerby. (For Cee’s FOTD)

A Sweet End to August

September 2, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A little finch seems to like the new bird café in the neighbourhood. Not sure about the new humans though. (For bushboys world last photo of the month challenge.)

This Life A Road

This life a road –the way preparedsigns to guide me,and still, I get lost. Construction, distraction,disobedience – throw me off –tendency to choose tougher routes,broken down and been sidelined And yet, the road still beckons,invites progression, thrills.A rolling stone gathers no moss,my father liked to say, and so… I push ahead, keep motoring,trust the obstacles […]

Wings

(Written during my bedbound years with ME/CFS)

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

May is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis awareness month. Also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, this disease is characterized by exhaustion after exertion. The exertion can be physical -taking a shower; emotional – worrying or obsessing; or mental- filling out forms. The best source of information about ME/cfs, as we call it, is the Bateman Horne Center. They […]