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Life is fragile; handle with care
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the fragility of life. How we take it for granted and how we put things off until ‘later, when we have more time.’ In my circle of acquaintances, there have been four deaths in the past month. One was an elderly person who had been fighting an illness for a long time – a blessing some would say, that his is no longer suffering. But the others have all been lives snuffed out far before they should have been. A sudden illness, a tragic traffic accident, a mental health crisis. Families changed forever.… Read more…
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A Christmas gift: A taste of “the” book
What is there to say? Another Christmas marred by a global pandemic. I feel very fortunate to have managed to get away earlier this year to keep my book-writing dreams alive. There should be a real book to hold in my hands before summer (maybe even in the spring. In the meantime, here’s a small Christmas gift – a little excerpt from the still tentatively-titled Another Glass of Tea, of a different Christmas, in make-believe land. I hope you enjoy. The house was in chaos. Well-oiled chaos, but chaos nonetheless. Fiona’s whole family had joined them at the lake, including… Read more…
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Here we go again
I was starting to get excited for Christmas. My neighbourhood is all lit up in bright colours and my Christmas tree went up a couple of weeks ago. Presents have been bought from local artisans, supplemented by the delivery man. Plans have been made to bring our little family together. Even with a couple of special girlfriends, we still number fewer than ten. Menus have been planned – no small feat when you consider the vegetarians, vegan and celiac among us. And there’s even been some snow. Last year the answers were hard to hear, but easy to process. Any… Read more…
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Settling back in
Five weeks. It’s been five weeks since I’ve returned to reality after a glorious six month break. It’s all a bit surreal, having left work behind and come back to it in the middle of a global pandemic. I’m sure there are people in my company who I only deal with on rare occasion who don’t even know I’ve been away. I had left my computer and work phone in my office, so I wouldn’t be tempted to “just check” on how things were going, so I got up bright and early on the first day and rather than lace… Read more…
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Back to reality
And just like that, it’s over. I’m feeling a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz today, except when click my heels together three times tomorrow morning, it will be back to work for me. Six months has flown by and I can hardly remember the fear – and excitement – that accompanied the beginning of my sabbatical at the beginning of March when I closed down my laptop and work phone and left them on my desk in the office. For the first few weeks, I eschewed alarm clocks, routine and the newspaper. I slept (a lot!), read… Read more…
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Painting with words
It’s no secret I’ve always loved the written word but I’m also a bit of a Broadway nerd. Give me a good showtune to belt out when nobody’s listening, and I’m a happy camper. And if I can have a one-person kitchen dance party, well, that’s even better. Occasionally, those two loves come together. I was singing along to the soundtrack from Hamilton in the kitchen this morning when I was struck again by these words from Eliza, Alexander Hamilton’s wife, about the immense volume of writing he did over his life and how the language of his letters affected… Read more…
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The half-way point
Time is ticking away. I’m cognizant that Sabbatical 2.0 has hit the halfway mark. I’m amazed that we’re here already. It’s going very quickly. Sabbatical 1.0 was only set for four months and I can’t imagine going back to work in just four weeks. Fortunately, I negotiated in an extra couple of months into the new-and-improved version, so I’m not staring that date in the face just yet. So how’s it going? Despite being basically stuck at home, I’m loving it. I’m writing, I’m reading and I’m even getting many of those “I’m too busy to do it” jobs ticked off… Read more…
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For the love of coffee shops
I miss coffee shops. I miss the smell of freshly ground coffee, the hissing sound of the milk frother and the thump thump when the barista empties the coffee grounds. I miss the background music and the constant buzz of noise as patrons come and go. When I first imagined my sabbatical, I thought I’d spend a lot of time writing in cafes and was looking forward to trying out lots of new ones to find the right creative vibe. When I needed a break from writing, I’d read. I had a stack of books waiting for me to have… Read more…
