Art: Still Learning

April 19, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Clouds mesmerize me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a clear, blue sky, but clouds are the stuff of poetry, lending themselves naturally to personification, often drawing my lens to their ever-changing moods. I searched for You-Tube videos on how to paint clouds. After watching three different artists work rapidly and with great confidence I […]

Nanaimo, B.C.

April 17, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

“I’ll take you for lunch if you like.” Of course, I’d like. “Can I bring my camera?” “Sure.” So we head downtown with no particular destination in mind, other than to find a place near the water. At the harbour front we find a park with manicured gardens, concrete walkways, and plenty of parking. “Let’s […]

The Gift of Friendship

April 16, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Pippy has driven down from Campbell River with her girlfriend, Sandy and her dog, Sam. We decide to leave the men to bond while we women go out for lunch and some catch up time. I take them to Gabriel’s Gourmet Cafe, where Ric and I ate on our first day here. It is busy […]

Stretching: It’s Good for the Soul

April 11, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Illness is not solely suffering; it is also much like the Hangman of Tarot – a forced change of perspective. There is a certain smugness that accompanies health: an attitude, reckless really, that says “I’ve got it all together. Look at me.” Those of us, having fallen from health, recognize the fallacy. Life is uncertainty. […]

Texting Love

April 6, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

hi grandma i miss you so mach i am so excited The text came unexpectedly, one Saturday morning. It was clearly from our granddaughter, Finn. to see you, the message continued, my mom and me are so glad you will cane back Finn is six and in grade 1. Her mom did tell me she is top of […]

Where’s Maude When You Need Her?

February 13, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Following a comment I made on Twitter about how patients with ME/CFS are dismissed when presenting at Emergency, a fellow twitterer sent me this link. Leave it to Golden Girl Maude to articulate so clearly the sentiment of so many who have wrestled with the medical community looking for answers. No one can lecture like […]

More Misadventures On The Road

February 7, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Travelling with a malfunctioning brain is sure to cause mishaps. We already know from the fiasco in New Mexico trying to find Silver City that I am not be trusted with directions. Well, turns out I am not to be trusted with other things either. The day after we arrived in Arizona, I decided to […]

Approach with Caution

Warning: approach with caution. Despite the overt friendliness of the individual bearing this warning label, please note that should you choose to engage her in conversation the management cannot be responsible for helping you disengage. Initiate dialogue at your own risk. (Today’s challenge: what would your warning label read?)

For Nadine

Let us line our memories side by side, build a raft to hold her, let our tears flow as one, form a river to carry her, line her way with echoes of her spirit: her giving heart, her smile, a vibrancy imprinted on our hearts, forever blessed for having been a part of her. (Today’s […]

Whales and Protocols

“What is that?” a boy, two seats over echoes my thoughts “I’ve been wondering that too!” I blurt, disregarding social protocols. What are the protocols for people herded onto a ferry, headed across open water, seated in close proximity to neighbours? “A whale?” his mother asks, obviously as eager as I to catch sight of […]

One Woman's Quest II

Category: aging