The Father I Miss

March 23, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Father abhorred laziness. “The idle mind is the Devil’s playground!” he’d say. Or: “What are you trying to do; win the horizontal championship?” Well, I’m the horizontal champion now, thanks to illness. Wonder what he’d say about that? Still, I’m not lazy. To my face he was hardcore, unless he was soppy drunk, then the […]

Friday Follies

March 22, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

No idea. You? For Proscenium’s Friday Follies

Shadows

March 22, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I fear the shadows of the past,darkness encroaching – doubt the loyalty of light. Turtles dwell in shaded places,equally as undaunted in the sun –have acclimatized to polarities. Birds, focused only in the moment,disregard the invasion of shadowsonly in my eyes are transformed. (For Cee’s Fun Foto challenge: shadows)

Arting People

March 21, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Faces and bodies intimidate me, when it comes to art. So I decided to start simply, with this computerized sketch (featured) made from an old photograph of one of my girls. I have found with my sketching that adhering to the original is not always necessary, as long as I get the general idea. This […]

Our Town: A Slice of History

March 20, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Situated at the crossing point of two rivers, our little town was once indigenous hunting ground, until European settlers arrived in the 1840’s taking advantage of the rich deposits of limestone. Much of the original architecture remains, giving the village an old world charm. The television series, Murdoch Mysteries, has used our train station and […]

Unexpected Playmates

March 19, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Rain has been threatening all morning, but I’m anxious to get outside, so the compromise is to drive to the end of the street and see if anything is happening. An osprey is on the ground in the middle of the parking lot. Rolling down the window, I snap some photos. The bird doesn’t budge, […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #40: Things My Father Said*

March 18, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

(* or any male of influence growing up.) I can’t count the number of times my father’s words hover over me, even though he’s been gone since 2005. He was the king of platitudes – constantly quoting (and making us recite) the works of Dale Carnegie, or Norman Vincent Peale. “Mind over matter,” he’d say […]

So Many Questions

March 17, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Questions are piling up over here, with very few answers. Isn’t that life? And maybe that is the point: we are meant to reflect, to ponder, to search, to explore. As a teacher, the emphasis was on inquisition: teaching children to think beyond the obvious, find the tools to research deeper. In this ever-increasing digital […]

Fences In Black & White (with poem)

March 16, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Look at us building fencespretending we have differences do we not hunger the samehunt in the same places do we not strive with equal intentbuild our nests with the same ferocity forgo passion to survive?Let us stop pretending let down these walladmit to our vulnerabilities align our purposesfight a more fearsome foe. (Cee’s black and […]

If I Knew; I’d Change It

March 15, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m struggling with myself. It isn’t the first time, and I’m certain it won’t be the last. There is no definable reason, and yet my emotional self tries to find blame: it’s Ric’s behaviour; it’s because I’m homesick; it’s my illness. Rationally, I recognize that my life is full of blessings right now, and this […]