A Triggered Response

May 5, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Don’t know about you, but I read each post with a slightly different eye this week, looking for one that provoked a response. Many did, but none more than Tina Stewart’s Brakebill’s post: Already Lost. Early in my teaching career, I had a troubled student, who was assigned to three out of four classes with […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #46: Response

April 29, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

For this week’s challenge, I thought it might be interesting to create a post in response to someone else’s work. This might be a poem in response to an image, or an image in response to a poem. It might be an imagined dialogue, or a response that demonstrates how the other has inspired you. […]

So Much Changes

April 28, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

A year ago, we were leaving Vancouver Island, crossing over into Oregon and heading east. We had travelled west with the intention of finding a spot suitable for retirement, but after a month of cold and rain on the island, plus an extended time away from family, we agreed that settling near our loved ones […]

And Then There Was Hope

April 27, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Three years ago today, I dragged myself out of bed, and with the aid of my walker (and likely a wheelchair), I paid a visit to a local doctor/ practitioner of Functional Medicine. Getting out in those days was a huge ordeal, and typically entailed a backlash that would last weeks. I was that sick. […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #45: Anniversary

April 22, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“It’s been 45 years, today, since my father passed away,” Ric blurted out the other day. “He’s been gone for twice as long as I knew him.” Easter is a hard time for Ric, as it linked to the loss of many people dear to him. April 15th, for me, represents my first date with […]

We Are Not Alone

April 21, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Mom, I keep seeing 11:11 or 1:11, and sometimes other numbers repeated.” “It’s been happening to me, too.” “What does it mean?” “I’m not certain. One is the number of new beginnings, but I’ve been seeing other numbers too. No matter what the meaning, it indicates that someone is looking out for us. We’ll be […]

Numbers and Chronic Illness

April 18, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

It’s been 5 years since illness knocked me off my feet. Tuesday, I visited the doctor with a list of 12 symptoms to discuss. She had 4 things to cover with me. We spent 1 hour and she took 2 samples, and set me up with 1 specialist and 3 more tests. She gave me […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #44: Numerology

April 15, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Numerology – the study of numbers and their connection to life patterns – fascinated me for many years. I came across a book, Numerology and the Divine Triangle which explained the Pythagorean theory of numbers. Like a psychic detective, I set out to uncover the mysteries of life, hoping, as we all do, to gain […]

Let It Rain

April 14, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Spring rain, the consensus seems to be, is the refreshment we need as winter’s barren stretch ends. Things continue to be piled up over here, the unpacking process disrupted by company and sleepovers. It is good to be home, and at the same time, I am feeling an inner fragility, overcome by exhaustion and the […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #43: Rain

April 8, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Raindrops, not tears,blur my vision –the line of trees before mea glistening blur.The pounding in my templesis just the steady rhythmof watery drip, drip, drip,not the incessant roarof my blood pounding –discordant is this day. I wrote this piece while stranded in Mississippi, with eighteen hours of driving still ahead of us, and no idea […]

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)