When? he asked. When does middle age end and old age begin?

"When" he asked, " when does middle age end and old age begin?"

It took awhile to recover from his question.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Childish Delight

Christmas, ah Christmas!

Recently I was asked what it is that I like best about Christmas. Perhaps the question came up because I was singing as I baked shortbread cookies.  I had to think about it and I realized it is the anticipation of Christmas that I love best . The endless possibilities, the optimism, the good will.

 It is inevitable that there will be disappointments at Christmas.If not for me and mine then certainly for someone we know, or someone  will be introduced to through the media.

Until then, I will sing under my breathe and look forward to the sharing of good will, food and yes- even gifts,  with my family. I will relish  the coming together and the pause in  this part of the world as we celebrate together.

Merry Christmas to you.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Ahh Facebook!

I really enjoy popping in on Backwoods Mom every now and then. She is living the life I imagined myself living back when I was in my 20's. I didn't have the stamina or the strength to keep it up and left the backwoods after 3 seasons for somewhere with running water and central heating. It was an interesting bit of serendipity to see her topic this week was also Facebook!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Facebook

it's a love hate relationship with me. The postings are so meaningless and yet. . . from time to time there is a gem. You tell me something real- that is me and all your other friends.I'd prefer you called but we just don't have that kind of a connection but I do like to keep up with you, really I do. The thing I find so amazing and can never figure out how to share with other people is the range of Facebook friends I have.

Down the alley way from the house my family moved into when I was a teen was a young family with two kids. The mom was pregnant with a third and later went on to have a fourth. I was the eldest daughter in a large family and well experienced in child care. I babysat for them. I loved to spend my Friday nights at their home. The house was clean and well ordered and there were yummy treats. The kids were bathed and I just had to put the older boy to bed and the evening was mine.

The little girl was almost always asleep and what a beautiful little girl she was. I used to stand and watch her sleep, her silky curls on her pillow, her lightly tanned cheeks flushed and rosy. I could imagine being mother to a daughter like her with a beautiful well ordered home like that-so unlike my own home just a few steps away. I grew up and moved away and had two sons,the most wonderful caring intelligent sons. My house has never been well-ordered but it has been a happy life.

My kids grew up far from my family and the idea of leaving them with a neighbourhood teen in charge every Friday night didn't occur to me but eventually a day came when we parents needed to get out, and so we asked among our friends and found a teenaged girl well experinced in the care of young lads. She didn't come often but when she did I was so grateful! Time passed she grew up and we forgot about her but as fate would have it- and the fact that this largish town is just like that- I am now working with her. This lovely woman with two children of her own and she is my Facebook friend!

Through my younger sister I have also been in touch with the little girl I babysat for every Friday through 1963 to 1967 and SHE is my Facebook friend also! As I wade through the meaningless and the pointless posts I see updates from both of these women and I am amazed at the ground that Facebook allows me to cover from my teens through my mommy days and on until today and I am grateful for the pearls I find along the way.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Dear Neighbour,

I'm breaking up with you. I know it's been awhile and perhaps you thought I wasn't paying attention but I was. Really the problem is my lawn and your dog - it's toxic. So, gather up your shit and don't come back.

Autumn Leaves

The words have been running through my tuneless mind. I had to stop raking the leaves, come into the house and listen. I hope you enjoy Paula Cole.
If not, perhaps Eric Clapton will warm your heart.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Removed from reality.

I had occasion to work with someone I don't know at all today. We were staff at a conference and there was a whole lot of down time and so, we chatted. Her hair was thick and lovely, she was trim and fit. She had beautiful clothing and she took great care with her appearance. We spoke of her social life and her desire to be a mom. She was by outward appearances a confident woman looking for a man, a gal in tune with the biological imperative to reproduce. I couldn't believe what she said and I am still shaking my head in wonder. How is it that people, indeed women today have become so removed from the reality of life?


This seemingly educated young women in a conversation about birth said "It's just not natural. It's totally unnatural to push a baby from you vagina. It's just not natural!"

Ya ha! Is it natural, Honey. That's how it happens most of the time!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

What we do.

We buy CDs. We like to choose and handle our music. Bringing home new music to share is a gift like roses or wine. Later we discover a recording that has fallen out of play and we nod and smile and share it again.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

In the afternoon

we play Scrabble without keeping score.
On Sunday, side by side, as the sunlight begins to wane
It's the pleasure of your company that brings me to the board.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Milestones

When my Grand was younger he came to me on Tuesdays.

After he had settled in I'd ask him if he wanted a "kid cofee." Almost always, the answer was "yes" and we'd sit together sipping and plan our day. I have been making him his cocoa ever since. With one thing and another; his mother moving to the burbs, high-school, and a part-time job he and I don't see each other often enough and so the ritual has fizzled out.

He joined us for Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. The dinner had been planned around his work schedule. The turkey dinner had been shared and we had all retired to the living room to digest and engage in a lively game of Cranium. There was pumpkin pie waiting for us and so after a time I took a poll of what beverages were neeeded to wash down the pie.

"I'll have tea Gramma" my darling little boy said. It was a first! That little boy is gone, and now my university student grandson is drinking tea.

Don't tell him I made him decaf;o)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Morning has Broken

I had an early morning appointment one day this week - really early. I left the house at 6:35 to catch the 6:45 bus. There isn't yet much traffic at that time of the day where I live. I was half a block away from my stop when the bus rolled on past me. Helpless, I stood annoyed for just a moment then moved on to the 24 hour convenience store across from my stop. The coffee had just finished brewing. I paid for my cup of coffee and took it across the street to wait the twenty, or so, minutes until the next bus arrived.

As I stood there warming my hands and waking my mind, a bat fluttered past. Time passed and and then the sky was cluttered with crows setting out for the day.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

What the body remembers

I've had terrible trouble with my shoulders. It is a fact.

The gentle kind woman who helps me with my body troubles was massaging my forearms. I'd just endured the intensity of stripping the fascia in my shoulder and this touch was a soothing reward for the previous intense touch. With an altered awareness I was back in my childhood bedroom,as the public health nurse rubbed strength into my scarlet fever wracked body. Time heals but the body remembers when reminded.

Monday, January 3, 2011