Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
At 10, I ruled the world – hard peddling up steep roads and letting go on the other side thrilling to speed and risk. At 20, I felt the pressure to define my life, marry, and be somebody – driven without much compassion At 30, I relaxed a bit, celebrated having birthed three children, confident […]
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Children understand the mechanics of accomplishment: take a risk, try and try again, and bask in the accolades that follow. As I grow older, I wonder at what point in life I lost that simple understanding. Now, as I watch my granddaughters, I feel compelled to regain some of that old spunk: tackle the new, […]
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Summer bursts with activities and plans, and I am already wondering at the folly of trying to move in the midst of it all. I put out a group text yesterday to solicit help from our kids, and the response was as expected: We are away that weekend. Can we help with the pre-move prep? […]
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“If it would help, I could get you a bacon press.” I am poised over the hot frying pan, waiting to flip a quesadilla. Waving the spatula at him, I give him my best stink eye. “What?” “I thought you said you wanted to keep up the minimalist lifestyle?” “I do, and having a […]
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I’m really just a simple gal, who finds pleasure in simple things, like a flash of yellow at the bird feeder or the surprise of spring abundance and whimsical notions conjured by a treehouse and the neighbourliness of front porches all made extraordinary, when shared. (The Daily word prompt from Fandango is “Simple” )
Read MoreWhat I didn’t tell you in my last post is that we put an offer on Option #1 immediately after viewing it. It has everything we want and more. We had driven to this community and looked at houses before, but they sell fast, so when we found out this one was sold conditional on […]
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“We love the Bluffs!” my friend exclaimed when I told her we were house hunting. We are looking for a small bungalow in an adult retirement community, outside of the city. So far our options have taken us forty-five minutes and an hour from family. Today’s destination is an hour and a half, and overlooks […]
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“Fasten your seatbelt,” Ric told me fourteen years ago when I first agreed that we were a “couple”. He wasn’t kidding. We’ve barely just settled in after a six month journey across North America and now we are looking for a home. We’ve narrowed it down to one of three. Option #1 is in a […]
Read MoreThe hockey game blares from the front of the bus with a confidence I am not feeling. Yesterday, I had two cracked and very infected teeth extracted, and my jaw is in intense pain. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” the dentist told me. Apparently, I had clenched so hard that I split my back […]
Read MoreWhat is it about run down buildings that stirs the imagination? This crumbling facade inspired the poem Abandoned: No voices linger, not even the sound of shattered glass echoes, only bones shedding flesh, an unholy darkness within, a mystery shrouded in silence. This is the schoolhouse where my mother-in-law had her first job as a teacher, […]
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One Woman's Quest II 