“Oh, hello!” My first glance out of the window in my office reveals feather-like flakes falling from the sky and a world that is, once again, white. Snow is different here than it was in B.C. It truly is like feathers and, with the addition of prairie wind, drifts are created that look like sculptured
I am sitting on a plastic chair in the waiting room at my granddaughter’s orthodontist. There are a handful of others occupying the same kind of chair spaced around the room; most of them are looking down at their phones. Only one man, wearing an orange reflective vest and who I estimate to be close to
It's the last weekend before the official start of spring. Any way you slice it, in whatever part of the country you live—that's cause to celebrate. Even here in Saskatchewan, we're feeling it. After last weekend's storm (when Cranky Old Man Winter gave his all for one last blizzardy blast), I believe the worst is
My phone dings before 8 a.m. I think it must be Gerry or Laurinda—both of whom are currently in Kamloops, separately and for different reasons—but no. It's Makiya, texting me from her bedroom downstairs. I think I'm sick. With her under the weather and no need for an early-morning commute to Caronport to drop her
On March 11, 2020, The WHO Director-General issued a media briefing in which the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic. I am releasing a new book today on the anniversary of when our world changed. Living Liminal: A Slice of Pandemic Life is a chronicle of 2020 and 2021. A compilation of blog posts,
I'm restless today. The project that has consumed much of my time lately, Living Liminal: A Slice of Pandemic Life, is about to be released into the world and I feel at loose ends. Conventional publishing wisdom would have me already switched into marketing mode by this point, but I decided long ago that this
It's late Saturday afternoon as I write this. Gerry and I have had a busy day. First thing this morning, I finally organized my art area, thanks to the new cabinets he assembled yesterday. After that, we puttered and organized our downstairs storage rooms, and came away feeling like we had really accomplished something. Then
Every evening this week when I close the curtains in my west-facing woman cave, I have seen two bright planets. A little research tells me they are Jupiter and Venus. I’m not especially interested in astronomy but, as with many things in the natural world, the appearance of the two brilliant lights so close to
It’s Tuesday, but feels like Monday. Yesterday was Family Day, and a holiday, here in Saskatchewan and many other Canadian provinces. The girls came for dinner and we enjoyed rousing games of cribbage and Kamloopsopoly before digging into one of Makiya’s favourite meals—African sweet potato stew and naan bread. Every day’s a holiday when you’re
Oh, the delicious sense that waking early and being the first one up in the morning elicits in me! Today, for the first time since I was sick in January, it happened. It was 5:45 a.m. when I got up this morning——earlier than I have been waking, but not early enough for my liking. It's
I’m a morning person. I love the quiet first thing, before the wild things of the day come growling, when I can ponder and pray, read and write. Since I was sick last month, my early morning time has been severely curtailed because I am oversleeping (according to my preference). At first, I thought my