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 […]

What Children Have Taught Me

January 3, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

When I was a teacher, I created a mailbox for each of my students on the bulletin board. It consisted of an envelope, decorated by each child, posted to the board. It was strictly for communication between the individual student and myself. As I taught high school, many of my colleagues doubted the efficacy of such an effort. They […]

Following a dream

December 11, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

When 13-year-old Alina first arrived at our house, she shared with me that she had a dream to join Cirque de Soleil. We’d had a student at one of my former schools who trained for cirque, so I told her I thought it was possible to find a trainer. I had no idea, really. When […]

A Milestone Moment

July 28, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

“You need to rest, because tomorrow is your birthday.” There is talk of baking a cake and maybe preparing food for visitors. My birthday fell on a weekday, so I told our new guests I will likely not have visitors – everyone will be working. They shrugged: “Maybe…” Ric and I have accepted a new […]

Grief

July 26, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Life’s a b**ch!

July 23, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

“You can’t catch a break!” These words from the ER doc last Sunday. After a week of “runs”, I finally went to hospital. “When you were here last, there was an outbreak of C. difficile. Pretty sure that’s what this is, but we’ll take a sample and send it to the lab.” C. difficile! “What’s […]

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 […]

A Mother’s Day Farewell

May 14, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

“Moments before she passed away, I asked my Mom if she had any words of wisdom to share with the world. She bit her bottom lip, shook her head, and replied: “No. I’m not that kind of person.” I disagree. Mom was both humble and wise. What she lacked for in words, she conveyed through […]

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 […]

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)