Adolescence

May 24, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Poem and image my own

Alone: Kids got this

March 3, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I spend a lot of time alone; it’s the nature of living with chronic illness. I am seldom bored. Perhaps, it as they say, that we come full circle – the essence of childhood rejoining me as I age. Alone time is when the imagination is free to wander, unrestrained. This post inspired by Lens-Artist […]

Children in Motion

August 19, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Backyard BBQs and picnics in the park – perfect ways to build community. The children benefit the most, I’d say. For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: motion

A Mother’s Education

May 10, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

By the time she was three, my first daughter, an early talker, had shared that people have colours around them, that I would eventually have three children, and not to worry about those who died, for they come back like she did. “She’s freaking me out,” I told a cousin of mine. “I don’t know […]

Hello Sunshine!

January 31, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Hunt for Joy Challenge this week is: sit in the sunshine. The sun is always shining when little ones are about.

Candid Moments

September 17, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

In candid moments much is revealedthe curiosity of youth, unabashed A mind constantly processing the exuberance of a playful soul. (For Cee’s Black & White photo challenge: candid)

Three Times Blessed

May 23, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Recent upheaval has plummeted me into a dark space, where I am not willing to settle. Depression has followed me throughout life, and while I acknowledge it has a place, I am not willing to let it drive. I learned long ago that the only way for me to counter the clouds is to be […]

Remembrance

November 8, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

My granddaughter paints a row of red flowers with crosses in between. “Flanders Field” she tells me. She’s six. “Your great-great grandfather, my grandfather, was shot in Flanders Field.” She raises her eyes to meet mine. “Did he die?” “No, but he was injured.” He was crawling across the field when the bullet entered and […]

CFFC: Things People Grow

October 5, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Here in southwest Ontario, we grow corn. By August we’ve also a grown an appetite for the taste of peaches and cream corn, buttered and salted, right off the cob. My mother comes from farming roots, but these days all she grows is older. We are all farmers, in a sense – planting our seeds, […]

#FOWC: Gumption

June 16, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A six-year-old, intent on exerting independence, exerts gumption (Fandago’s word of the day prompt is gumption)

Lessons From a Newborn

Rest. Nap as often as you need;life can be exhausting – store up. Cry. Let your feelings be known –your voice is your saving grace. Joy is a whole body experience;immerse yourself in total delight. Hold on to those who love you;your survival depends on them. See the world through new ideas;you never know what […]

Ocean-gazing

Blue expandingcrisp whiteof tiny sails –horizon The lull is gentlelucidity swellingserenity present How safe it isto imagine limitlessnesswhen I am groundedbreast to railinganchored ashore. (Image my own)

Tugging

Is it selfishthis chosen solitude?How I treasure silence,stillness baiting my muse And is it my calmthat attracts chaos?The sorrow of otherslanding on my doorstep What if I rejected pleas,locked out the troubles?How long can I sustainpeace until need answers? (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own)