V.J.'s Weekly Challenge #89: imaginary

March 23, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Fresh air was the remedy yesterday. From six feet apart, we greeted our neighbours. “How are you keeping?,” I asked a widow. “Well thank goodness for the cat,” she said. “Am missing my husband, but I do talk to him regularly.” And then realizing how that sounded, she added: “His picture, you know.” I get […]

The Dominos Are Falling

March 22, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

A local business owner returned from a trip South, and went back to work, his thoughts no doubt wrapped up in the running of his store. Two days he worked, ignoring the fatigue. He blamed it on the stomach bug he’d picked up while away. Day three he decided to get checked out at our […]

Thoughts on Gates and Fences

March 20, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

My childhood home was surrounded by fence, bordered by tall cedars – we had a secret to keep. I learned not to trust neighbours. I learned the price of shame. At the back of the yard was a gate that opened onto a field and beyond that a wooded area. There I found serenity, connection, […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #88: Domino Effect

March 16, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Should we cancel our community dinner? The text came in while we were watching the news. One after another, closures are happening in response to the coronavirus – schools, sporting events, legislature, etc. So far there have been no cases in our area. Our first instinct is to say no. My daughter’s company is preparing […]

Morning’s Chaos

March 15, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Morning comes and the calm of night is brushed off with a moment of chaos – the dogs wrestle and shake and sneeze, as if fighting off the effects of slumber. I am not as excited to rise early, have no routine for resetting my status from comatose to awake and alert. I mumble on […]

Boom, Boom, Bye, Bye

March 14, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I’m focusing my lens when we both hear it – duck and I – a boom, like from a cannon. Rattled, Mallard prepares for take off, while I try to shake off the nerves and get the shot. The boom comes again. A hunter in our midst. This duck escapes unmarred, as I do I. […]

Reflections Fascinate

March 13, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

(For Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge: reflections)

Red: A Welcome Sight

March 11, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

For Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week Challenge: red.

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #87: morning

March 9, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

“You do more in a morning than some people do in two weeks,” a graphologist once told me, having analyzed my handwriting. It was not news to me. I was raised to be a morning person. Waking before the rest of the family and getting ahead of the day was my way. Until I got […]

Clichéd Fun

March 8, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

The grass is always greener –magnificent clichescarry on –the writing on the wall,a little bird told mein the nick of time,don’t cry over spilled milk –Is it cliché to saymuddied waters –me over the edge? Thank you all for keeping me entertained with your creativity. My poem is compliments of your gifted responses. Here are […]

Over It!

One day it’s so mild that I don’t bother with a coat, the next we wake up to snow on the ground. The plants pushing up through the soil seem a little more patient than me – as if they are humouring nature’s fickleness. I’m ready for clear change. A pair of finches just flew […]

Present Distance

I’ve lived the fog of distance –life’s highway a series of hillsdestination without promise Have learned that acceptance gains perspective,that climates change, and hope sustains,and that in the stillness dreams renew. Now I travel quieter paths, appreciatespace, have surrendered to a slower pace –certain that this too will change. (image my own)