Monday, April 24, 2017

Triplet 2017


Every year when we spend about three months in Cotignac, we do a triplet - or short trip.  This year's focus was to be on Brittany but, at the last minute, we are changed our itinerary to include Vimy.  The 100th anniversary this year made it especially meaningful and therefore necessary for us to visit.
Image via

We are doing this itinerary in 8 days with my sister D. and her husband.  It's a lot of driving but still manageable for Canadians!

Sunday, April 23, 2017

These two...


Tristan (right) is home from Chicago for his bi-yearly holidays and Damien is studying in Saskatoon. Because of this, they don't get to see much of each other. Solution: V. drives T. to see D. in Saskatoon for a 24-hour stay. Ten hours on the road meant nothing to their father, a small price to pay to make sure they could connect before the next long wait before a visit.

This picture (excuse the poor quality) makes my heart sing.  They share a strong bond that was our intention from the first.  V. is an only child and I have 5 siblings and am only really close to one of them.  It was V.'s and my wish that our children really felt and feel they have each other. We always told them that when we are gone, they will be each others' family.

We are, all of us, blessed.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Spring Run Off


April in Edmonton by David Cure-Hryciuk
What was hard as iron now seeping through the grass, rushing down the curb to the drain, waking plants from their long sleep.  The edges of my soul are lifting, my eye looks outward, my body springs forth jubilant,  energized by warmer temperatures.

Spring has arrived.

All but a few tiny patches of dirty white stuff persist in the shade, buds are trying to bud while the ground is begging for a good spring clean waiting patiently for the lid to come off.

The sun is aggressive at the top of the afternoon on the deck, close your eyes and it could be May for a few minutes if you ignore the rotting damp smells around you.  Hot and cold, dry and damp, light and shadow are engaged in a dance of alternating leads.

Spring is here.

Work draws to an end.  My students are blades of grass weighed down with winter debris, dreaming of semester's end to lean heavily into the life-affirming rays of the sun.

Spring draws me into the garden, into my body, into a heightened social season, onto an island for a 20th-anniversary retreat with my 7 reading circle sisters.

Welcome Spring.  Je t'aime.

Happy Birthday to Me

My face is on fire as I write this.  Can't go outside for three days because I've had Photodynamic Therapy for pre-cancerous cells o...