An Invitation

December 24, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

It’s Christmas Eve, if you are a celebrating Christian, or an adoptee of the holiday. For some, it is a time of last minute rushing about, for others, celebration, and, if you are like me, it is a time of quiet relaxation. Whatever your practice or affiliation, I wish you peace and joy. No challenge […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #27: Intent

December 10, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Last year, when we travelled, I was so sick that all I could think about was survival. Over and over again I told my husband that I could not guarantee my participation in much, hoping he would not be disappointed. The experience blew me away. It also renewed my energy and promoted healing. This […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #25: Un-lived Lives

November 26, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

“I met one of my un-lived lives at a party last night” is the title of a post on bone&silver’s blog. I loved this post, and idea, so much I decided to make it the focus of my challenge this week. How precarious are our lives, or are they pre-charted? Does destiny hold all the keys, […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #23: Character

November 12, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

It’s a funny thing, character, the way it brands people as they age rising from within to leave its scar – Kate Morton, The Distant Hours The school board I worked for introduced an initiative to promote character education in the classroom. Acceptance, caring, honesty, respect, empathy, perseverance, and responsibility were among the traits targeted. At the start […]

Sacrifice’s Wrap Up

November 12, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Up until August 1st of this year, my husband and I lived in motor home for a year, having travelled across North America for six of those months. It was a drastic change of lifestyle for us, and an incredible journey. As with all change, it required certain sacrifices. We let go of our bricks […]

Contemplating the River

October 26, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

You can’t push the river, a teacher once told me. So true. I’ve had a lifetime of trying to outrun the river, and consequently, the shattered pieces of my efforts litter life’s banks. With illness, I have come to appreciate that it is not about flowing with the river, or keeping up, but being open. The […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #17: Baseline

September 24, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

(Baseline Séance from Mariposaxprs) “Your results are right on the edge of normal,” the doctor told me after administering a mental competency test and adding up my score. “Really can’t tell from this whether there is a problem or not. Educated people tend to do better on these tests (masking cognitive impairment) and others not so […]

Nurturing Thursday: Thought for August 2

August 3, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Originally posted on Cee's Photo Challenges:
I decided to play with along with Becca today and participate in her Nurturing Thursday. For the Love of Challenges I’ve gathered a list of challenges and their hosts. So if you know a challenge host, please direct them to my blog. Feel free to contact me anytime.…

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #9: Home

July 30, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.” – Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Home is on my brain this week, as we […]

Death Threat

July 25, 2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

“Viewers are cautioned that this next report contains images that may be disturbing to some.” Naturally, I turn toward the television to see what all the fuss is about. Photos of a crime scene where two women have been brutally stabbed to death are plastered across the screen along with images of the hotel they […]

I dream that I am teaching again, and having assigned the class independent work, I am spending time connecting with each student to see if they are grasping the material. It’s my favourite part of teaching, and I wake up wondering if I’ll ever have that feeling again. So rewarding. It is bittersweet, growing old. […]

Fatal Fury

Really wasn’t your faultthis fury that overcame –Words evoked onslaught,a raging river of pain. Didn’t mean to push you,miscalculated my aim,swimming in swamp watersnot a recommended game. You floundered, gurgled,cursed me by name –our love story, now viralbrought an alligator fame. (Image my own. Tale is totally fictional, I promise.)