V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #50: Acceptance

May 27, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“The doctor was adamant that it’s cancer, and I’ve researched it. If it is, it’s not good.” Weeks of repressed fear gush forward, and I find myself crying, mid restaurant, my husband seated across from me. “We just don’t know yet.” he responds softly, taking my hand. “We’ll deal it with one step at a […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #49: gadget

May 20, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

The first time Ric cooked dinner for me, he pulled out a tall, slender stainless steel pot with a glass lid and a basket inside. I’d never seen anything like it. “What is that?” “An asparagus pot!” I haven’t stopped teasing him about it, being the pragmatic woman that I am. I would soon discover […]

We Canadians Are So Polite

May 19, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

(This sign is posted in the window of a local café. I submit it here for Proscenium’s Friday Follies, not to suggest that it is folly, but just that it struck my funny bone, as it depicts the stereotypical Canadian politeness.)

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #48: Compassion

May 13, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

“Compassion becomes real when we recognizeour shared humanity.” – Pema Chödrön. As a young woman, I braced myself against the world by adhering to black and whites – a judgmental stance that was not conducive to relationship building. More self-protective than self-righteous, this attitude only served as a wall, confining me to loneliness. Then in […]

Delusions of Grandeur, or…?

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

Body dysmorphia? For Proscenium’s Friday Follies

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #47: In-Between

May 6, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

“Shouldn’t be long,” I tell Ric before passing through into the rows of examining rooms. The receptionist who called yesterday, saying there was a cancellation, suggested this was just a consult and preliminary examination. My health has been declining since long before we returned home. The thing about having a chronic illness is that it […]

A Triggered Response

May 5, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Don’t know about you, but I read each post with a slightly different eye this week, looking for one that provoked a response. Many did, but none more than Tina Stewart’s Brakebill’s post: Already Lost. Early in my teaching career, I had a troubled student, who was assigned to three out of four classes with […]

Not Planning This One…

May 5, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Proscenium’s Friday Follies

Eyeballing

May 4, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Birds eyes intrigue me – what depths of character lies within? And sometimes, just when you’ve forgottenthe subject behind the lens in more than object the eye-to-eye contact is undeniable…and you back off… humbled. (For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: eyes.)

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #46: Response

April 29, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

For this week’s challenge, I thought it might be interesting to create a post in response to someone else’s work. This might be a poem in response to an image, or an image in response to a poem. It might be an imagined dialogue, or a response that demonstrates how the other has inspired you. […]

Blossoming

It may be foolish of me, at my age and in my current condition, but I hang on to the hope that the pain of this effort is leading somewhere: renewal, new purpose, or at the very least, a blossoming.

Monday Mood: Stretched too far

Saturday we packed up the garage (with help). Dusty, dirty, and exhausting. Sunday we attended and then hosted a farewell party for our Ukrainian roommate, who is going back to Ukraine despite all our protests. Yes, two separate gatherings. Heart wrenching. This morning, we visited our new apartment building to get set up with a […]