War Continues

January 7, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

I survived Covid, and Christmas, and was preparing to take a breather – maybe work on my memoir, or get re-inspired in the art room – when the first call came: “VJ, there is a situation I need your help with!” The caller lived in a nearby town, and was leaving the country the following […]

Signs of Success

October 27, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Ric and I took a road trip to Strathroy, Ontario last Friday, to catch up with old friends. We met at Alla’s Pierogies & More, a cute little restaurant with three tables and of course, the exuberant host: Alla. Afterwards, we visited Mykola at his trendy bakery for tea and treats. Alla and Mykola’s families […]

Speak Up

October 18, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

We are not there yet: there being that utopia where equal rights set us all free. What more can I say? (The featured quotation is from a post I wrote in 2016: Stop Blaming the Woman.)

War – Not War

July 7, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

Somedays, words elude me. I want to say the war continues in Ukraine, but ‘war’ is not the right word. It suggests two-sided, as in a dispute that has escalated and come to blows. What happened in Ukraine is not that. It is an act of terrorism and greed at its most heinous. Ric and […]

For Ukraine

June 28, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

What Saved You?

June 7, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Set Fire To The Rain

April 21, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

The war in Ukraine continues, and from the comfort of my sunroom, I still do what I can to help. Today, I am waiting on the arrival of our fourth family – two brother-in-laws, whose dream to land in Toronto, find work and lodgings, and then bring over the elder’s wife and child, proved unattainable. […]

Muskrat

April 14, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Went to the river to clear my mind. It’s been a rough couple of weeks helping Ukrainians. Some, feeling they can’t make it in Canada, or missing family too much, have gone home. Worse than that, we uncovered human trafficking. One employment trafficking, and another procuring young women for the sex trade. I have felt […]

Sunflowers and smiles

January 23, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

A local craft shop owner makes votives in yellow and blue with sunflowers on them and all proceeds go to Ukrainians. A BC retailer saw her work online and ordered 100 candles, selling them at $5.00 each. Ryan Reynolds saw the effort and doubled the intake. She sent much of the proceeds to a non-profit […]

Heart Full

January 20, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

When can we meet? The message is from Alla, whose bright voice messages always made my day back in the Spring, when I helped her family of five find flights and a host. We are opening our little bakery…we will be very glad to see you. Another message from another family, who with my help, […]

Crisis

How did undocumented –a civil infraction –reduce people to ‘bodies’? And how did empathy –observation and support –merit death by gunshot? When we stretch for explanations –to fit the violent rhetoric –are we too not complicit in crime? Red, blue, it’s all intolerable –the global stage is watching –a nation in rapid decline. “He’ll burn […]

Winter’s Ruse

Poet’s Quandry

IfI wereto writeevery dayfor onehundred days,would my soulbe purged ofthis malaise;is it a thingto be dredged,dragged up –twistedand tiedlike tatteredbed sheetsknottedtogether;is therea remedyfor thisscourge;or is thisan inherentrestlessness,a fiery bluespark of eternalangst ignitingpassion – a callto write? (Originally posted February, 2017. Image my own)