V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #30: Windows

January 7, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

I find myself obsessed by windows, sizing up the framed image for photogenic qualities and potential watercolour subjects. What is it, I wonder, that has so captured my imagination? For two-and-a-half years, confined to a bed, windows were my only connection to the world – one framing bird feeders and happy activity, and the other […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #29: Transition

December 31, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Setting New Year’s resolutions is not my thing. I do, however, honour the passage of one year to another by reviewing what the passing year has entailed and consciously deciding where I would like to focus for the next. For example, as a young mother of three, having returned to work, I learned to prioritize […]

Recipe Needed

December 23, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Plateauing my cousin called it, this feeling of flatness. “You are just gathering strength for the next climb,” she’d offer. She’s been gone for years, but her presence remains – a pillar in my thoughts. Passion has given over to a sense of pointlessness. I am questioning my ability and the purpose for what I […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #28: Recipe

December 17, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

This time of the year, I find myself perusing recipes – looking for the perfect gluten-free dessert, or a new appetizer to take to a potluck, or maybe an easy way to use up leftovers. I am also concocting a recipe for the perfect get together – imagining the ingredients and timing for holiday […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #27: Intent

December 10, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Last year, when we travelled, I was so sick that all I could think about was survival. Over and over again I told my husband that I could not guarantee my participation in much, hoping he would not be disappointed. The experience blew me away. It also renewed my energy and promoted healing. This […]

Shift

December 9, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Synchronicity nurturing wonder,relationships, books, mystery,accomplishment and celebration –home. Conversation, point of view,personification, questions,foundation irony,shadows baseline Attention gatheringdistance riverveil sacrificecharacter deviation –un-lived lives. *** The challenge this week was to gather titles from our own writing and reveal a new message through lining them up. The poem above has been created from the weekly challenge prompts, […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #25: Un-lived Lives

November 26, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

“I met one of my un-lived lives at a party last night” is the title of a post on bone&silver’s blog. I loved this post, and idea, so much I decided to make it the focus of my challenge this week. How precarious are our lives, or are they pre-charted? Does destiny hold all the keys, […]

Yellows for Mum (Flower of the Day)

November 19, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Joy is yellow, bright sunshine, lively frocks, Mom’s loving influence. (Cee’s Flower of the Day)

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #24: Deviation

November 19, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. – Frank Zappa For several years running, I was invited to speak to the Sociology of Deviancy class at our local university. Each visit, I opened by joking that I was never quite sure whether the invitation was a good thing or not. Truthfully, though, I […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #23: Character

November 12, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

It’s a funny thing, character, the way it brands people as they age rising from within to leave its scar – Kate Morton, The Distant Hours The school board I worked for introduced an initiative to promote character education in the classroom. Acceptance, caring, honesty, respect, empathy, perseverance, and responsibility were among the traits targeted. At the start […]

Over It!

One day it’s so mild that I don’t bother with a coat, the next we wake up to snow on the ground. The plants pushing up through the soil seem a little more patient than me – as if they are humouring nature’s fickleness. I’m ready for clear change. A pair of finches just flew […]

Present Distance

I’ve lived the fog of distance –life’s highway a series of hillsdestination without promise Have learned that acceptance gains perspective,that climates change, and hope sustains,and that in the stillness dreams renew. Now I travel quieter paths, appreciatespace, have surrendered to a slower pace –certain that this too will change. (image my own)