So Many Questions

March 17, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Questions are piling up over here, with very few answers. Isn’t that life? And maybe that is the point: we are meant to reflect, to ponder, to search, to explore. As a teacher, the emphasis was on inquisition: teaching children to think beyond the obvious, find the tools to research deeper. In this ever-increasing digital […]

Fences In Black & White (with poem)

March 16, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Look at us building fencespretending we have differences do we not hunger the samehunt in the same places do we not strive with equal intentbuild our nests with the same ferocity forgo passion to survive?Let us stop pretending let down these walladmit to our vulnerabilities align our purposesfight a more fearsome foe. (Cee’s black and […]

If I Knew; I’d Change It

March 15, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m struggling with myself. It isn’t the first time, and I’m certain it won’t be the last. There is no definable reason, and yet my emotional self tries to find blame: it’s Ric’s behaviour; it’s because I’m homesick; it’s my illness. Rationally, I recognize that my life is full of blessings right now, and this […]

Close Encounters: Reptiles

March 14, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

The heavy cloud cover of yesterday is breaking up allowing for small pockets of sunshine. The temperature is hot, almost muggy. We are headed back to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. “Better get my camera ready,” I tell Ric. “Last time we saw that coyote just before the entrance.” “Yes, and it was motoring! Not a […]

In the Neighbourhood

March 13, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

In every direction, waterand birds flying by Behind, a canal flowingtoward the Aransas Bay For now, we are nomadsseeking varied horizons. (Lens-Artists challenge is “around the neighbourhood“.)

Bursting With Colour

March 12, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Along the Rio Valley in Texas the birds burst with bright colours. For Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week Challenge: Colorful

Thistle in Bloom

March 11, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

For Cee’s Flower of the Day.

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #39: Unanswerable

March 11, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“I always start with questions that I can’t answer. Otherwise you get bored halfway through if you already know the answers. If you’re asking what seem to be unanswerable questions, then you have to keep showing up.” – Barbara KingsolverFrom A Talk in the Woods, by Kevin LarimerFeatured in Poets & Writers, November/ December 2018 […]

What Is In a Name?

March 10, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

A touch of history, a personal insight, a vision – all of these form the basis for how we have chosen to name our blogs. Reading the back stories has made this one of my favourite challenges. Each of us has put thought and care into finding names, an act that speaks of our dedication […]

Paradise Pond

March 9, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

In Port Aransas, just off one of the main roads, is a driveway that cuts through a Mexican restaurant. Behind the restaurant are high fences and a boardwalk leading into a secluded area. This is Paradise Pond. On our first visit, we met locals who described the importance of the area environmentally, and alerted us […]

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 […]