Consider the crazy idea — it might be the right one. In late summer 2020, Dad told me his cancer had spread. I longed to see him. His doctor said we could count on Christmas, but not on Easter. Travel for him was out of the question. But my work was portable: all I needed […]
I was up early on a recent Sunday morning, delightfully alone. Being the one morning person in the house has its perks! Waiting for coffee to brew, I looked outside and saw everything dripping and fresh from the night’s thunderstorm. In the quiet of the living room I worked on my latest crochet project, a […]
For 51 years, my left eye has been useful for motion, colour and shape–and not much else. I’ve been grateful for it, and quick to point out that it’s better than no sight at all when doctors dismissed it, saying I had “one good eye.” But yesterday things changed. I went for cataract surgery and […]
I recently took a big step towards fulfilling a writing dream, only to have fear launch a stealth attack that temporarily sidetracked me. Pull up a screen and I’ll tell you about it—and how I’m getting past it. On June 19 I completed the 100-day book program by submitting the last piece of my first […]
When Grandma died in November, family and close friends came together informally to mourn. We ended up in a big circle in my cousin’s home, looking out on Grandma’s beloved Rideau River. We shared stories, memories and sorrow. People spoke of how much they learned from her, how much they loved her, how much they’d […]
On a June Sunday this summer, I got home from Scout camp with Husband and Thing Two, and for the next day or so I felt cranky and out of sorts. Really unpleasant-to-be-around cranky. I thought maybe it had to do with the state of my house, which had reached critical mess, as it often […]
Going to a library brings a smile to my face, even if I’m there to pay a fine. Seriously! One recent busy Saturday between grocery shopping and the other busyness of the day, I stopped off to return some overdue books and pay a fine, and found myself grinning and suddenly happy, just because I […]
I signed up for an exercise class with a friend and ended up getting three good things for the price of one: exercise, laughter and socializing. I don’t need to go into just how great these three things are for health, stress levels and even longevity. Use your google-fu and you’ll find a whole lot […]
Thing One has a sturdy, expensive bike. It’s made by a company in British Columbia, on the other side of the country from Ottawa. It’s customized. It survives his riding every year on the first bare roads of March through to November’s cold and ice. This bike has history: he rode it while volunteering as a first aider […]
In May, the Alberta city of Fort McMurray burned. People across Canada watched as residents fled with what little they had time to pack or could carry. Videos of near escapes, of cars driving through smoke, of houses in flames riveted our attention. Seeing the images and listening to the stories told in shell-shocked voices was heart-wrenching. […]