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 […]

Perpetually seeking Balance

October 16, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Bit by bit, these Autumn days have drained me, and still I push. First there was the trip to Toronto for tests (none of them revealing answers), then; we decided to host Thanksgiving, which involved three days of preparation (I thought I’d be okay if I did most of the work in advance), and then; […]

Not a Chance, Lady

July 10, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

I decided to ignore the tugging signs and drive the car the short distance to the river. The day was overcast, so I reasoned that the light would not bother my eyes. Some things are not meant to be. Lifting my camera to shoot the heron lingering in the shallows, I realized that my right […]

The Coach Learns a Lesson (excerpt)

May 31, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

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 […]

Uh…Okay?!

September 30, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

The twins went to school…for a day. Mom and I celebrated with lunch out, except then one got sick and so only one boy got on the school bus while the other lingered home, and when he was finally feeling better, the other 4-year-old came down with a cold. Of course, the first day we […]

Babuschka VJ

September 5, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

One twin is precocious and full of life. He jumped from the car the moment they arrived and hugged me. “Babuschka VJ!” he exclaimed. The other was asleep upon arrival and slept most of the next. He ran away when he saw me at first, and startled at any unexpected noise. “He has regressed,” his […]

Dark and Light

July 3, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Her water broke!” The moment we’d all been waiting for, in fact; we’d had a betting pool going: who could guess the date and time of birth. No one had picked the first of July. By 4:00 they were headed to the hospital. By 6:00 my daughter-in-law had an epidural. At 11:30 I messaged for […]

Heart Warmed

April 4, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

“Hi Mrs Knutson,Hope you are well!I saw that you and your husbandare hosting a family of refugeesfrom Ukraine….“ The writer of this message attended a school where I once taught. He was not a student of mine, but I did coach the boys’ soccer team, with this young man’s help and direction (he was our […]

The Power of Intent

March 14, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

“Sending out a collective prayer of sincere thanks to all who have supported my journey. Hope I can do the same for others, paying it forward.” These were the last words I posted on the blog that appeared last Monday. Within hours of hitting publish, two things occurred: An old friend contacted me on FaceBook […]

Ukraine

Planted seeds for prosperity –images of children frolickingthe delight of yellow horizonstradition setting our fields ablaze Till greed came knocking –brother turning on brother Rhetoric and lies shrapnelshattering our dreams Only the deer frolic nowunwitting participants inthis unprovoked slaughterland mines defiling landscapes But seeds are not lost,nor are the legacy of generationswhose soil has known […]

Winter, Please

(Image my own)

Sing Along

Dove’s mournful cryspotlights Nature’s calling –Let us find a harmonic notesing along for conservation,for preservation, for a strongtomorrow – find our voicesand join the chorus. (Image my own)