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. […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #45: Anniversary

April 22, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“It’s been 45 years, today, since my father passed away,” Ric blurted out the other day. “He’s been gone for twice as long as I knew him.” Easter is a hard time for Ric, as it linked to the loss of many people dear to him. April 15th, for me, represents my first date with […]

Resilience

Boxes are filling up around us. We’re making a dent in our to-do lists. Doubt seeps in. Are we doing the right thing? Then I remember all the reasons behind making this choice and affirm: We are dismantling one life to build another, purposeful existence.

Monday Mood: squirrely

The movers need to be arranged, and the closets sorted and packed, and when was the last time we bought groceries…. Head and attention are going in too many directions at once, and I’m exhausted before I get started. Might be a little cranky too. The stress of moving is real.