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Reflections on a road trip
Late in the summer, my daughter and I packed up her new car with all her belongings – at least the ones that weren’t already half way across the country – and began what was either the best or worst idea we’d had to date. We had four days to get from southern Ontario to Kelowna, BC, and then one more day to move her to her new home in the Kootenay mountains and for me to get back to Kelowna to fly home. It would turn out to be just over 5,000 kilometres of driving. I admit, I was… Read more…
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Westward ho: does taxi service for kids ever end?!
I’m just back from a mini-vacation with my middle child. In the past, I’ve taken his siblings on one-to-one trips, but his, like so many holidays, was scuttled by COVID. This year, when he decided to tackle a huge hike through the Rocky Mountains (you can learn more about the Great Divide Trail here), he realized he needed a ride about three hours south of Calgary to where he wanted to begin. When we realized it coincided with Calgary Stampede, a mother-son trip was born. The trip did not start well. As we were clearing security, my phone dinged. The flight… Read more…
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Daffodils and tulips and spring, sigh
The daffodils in the ravine behind my garden gate are laughing at me. Taunting me. Tormenting me. These are the bulbs that I didn’t plant two autumns ago because I wouldn’t be here in the spring. They are the bulbs that I did plant last fall even though I wouldn’t be here to see them this spring. But here I am, and there they are. Their nodding yellow heads are joined by a small plucky forsythia bush that I planted almost four years ago, and which the rabbits almost killed the first winter. Since then, it, and the other flowering shrubs I lovingly planted… Read more…
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Mind over matter (aka throwing oneself at the ground)
I have never wanted to throw myself directly at the ground. Not once have I considered skydiving or bungee jumping. Being parallel with the ground is a different matter. I love ziplines and would paraglide in a heartbeat. And watersports are a definite winner. But throwing myself at the ground just seems foolhardy. A few years ago, my kids and I took a the big “blowout” family holiday – the last chance we would have for one before my eldest became a fully-fledged grownup with the lousy vacation schedule that comes with a first job. We went on a Costa… Read more…
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A plan without a plan
A few days ago, a friend of mine posted a quote on FaceBook from Mandy Hale that struck me. “You don’t always need a plan,” the blogger turned author wrote. Sometimes you need to just breathe, trust, and see what happens.” It seems particularly appropriate this week, as I’ve got “Sabbatical 2.0” as I’m calling it, papered over at work. While it clearly wasn’t meant to happen in 2020, 2021 is my year – one way or another. At this time last year, I was almost vibrating with excitement. I had my plane ticket booked and my flat booked. I’d told old… Read more…
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Forging new plans
My view – the planned version Today I was supposed to be boarding a plane to my picturesque Bosphorus-view flat to spend three months of a four month sabbatical soaking in the inspiration that only the magic of Istanbul can offer. Instead, I spent Day 1 of Ontario’s shutdown of essential services working from my dining room table, writing communications about a global pandemic. The world has changed so much in the past little while. Two weeks ago today, I was starting to get concerned, but still thought I’d be going. By the Friday, I was sure that even if… Read more…
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Slipping through my fingers
Remember that dream? The one I’ve spent the past year planning? I’m beginning to think it was just a hallucination. I’m on the countdown to a four-month sabbatical from work to try and write something worth reading. I’ve got five days left at work and another five until I’m supposed to fly to that view I’ve dreamed about for years. The one that was supposed to inspire me to great things. But with every day – even every hour – that passed last week that view slipped slowly further and further from my grasp. And now, like a mirage in the desert… Read more…
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Let me tell you a secret
I’ve been keeping a secret. Actually, I haven’t been keeping it very well, because it’s been slowly leaking out among close family, friends and colleagues, like air from a balloon. But its getting closer, so its time to let it out before I burst. I’ve had some ideas bubbling in my mind for a few years. Bits and pieces of stories, settings and characters – all ideas for writing that I have wanted to flesh out. Slowly, bit by bit, they’ve been taking up more time in my head, but with work being pretty much all-encompassing for more years than I’d… Read more…
