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
Gerry and I have been Moose Jaw residents for two months today. This morning, we reflected on what we were doing two months ago at this time and agreed——we were busy! We took possession of our new home at 9:30 a.m. and by the time we got there, our mover was already waiting for us.
Well, not just yet. But we enjoyed a family dinner with Gerry’s siblings and their spouses on Sunday in honour of our pending move to Saskatchewan. I’m pretty sure it was the first time we all got together before you-know-what so it was especially good to gather again. We intentionally arrived in Vernon early—in part
We go to Costco to buy popcorn. And more. Always more. After deciding I don't need them I loop back and pick up a yellow box of Dad's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. (48 individually wrapped packages containing two cookies each.) Because school lunches. And childhood memories. When we get home I brew tea and dip
I wake from another dream in which I was with people I love who have long since passed on from this world. Dreams with Mom, Dad, Aunt Edie, and Uncle Bill set in places I feel most at home that are so real it’s hard to leave them. They have been coming regularly the past few
On this the last day of the year, it seems fitting to take a literal look back at some ordinary days of 2021 with twelve photos and a few memories. We welcomed the start of the year with a mild January. We went outside and took the dogs for walks on balmy afternoons. We did
It feels like Friday, but it’s Wednesday (I almost said Tuesday. That’s how out of sync I feel.) I finished reading another good book last night (Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris) and now I’m on the prowl for my next read.) The more I stay at home, the less desire I have to go out.
I’m thinking about this weeping willow tree this morning. It lives in a park on the other side of the city—my favourite park in the area, one fat with memories and history. Over the course of forty years, I’ve walked in it and wept in it, ridden a bike along its paths, cheered at my
I wake from a dream in which I had returned to work in a similar role as one I was once very proficient in. I was, shall we say, less so in the dream and in my early wakefulness ponder what I remember and what’s lost to me about the technical aspect of my former
A smartly dressed young man climbs out of the polished black car, walks around to the passenger side, and opens the door for the young woman sitting there. She steps out, and off they go hand-in-hand toward the park. I’m kind of agog because that kind of respect is not something you see every day anymore. And,
I carry baby tomato plants in a small box on my lap while Gerry drives to the community garden. My hands brush across their leaves. The scent of hope wafts from them. The plants have been growing in my laundry room since I dropped tiny seeds into pots in early April, unmotivated, with barely enough