End of Week End

Thank you sun for showing up, coming out, and shining so brilliantly. I needed you! Your presence made every chore a pleasure. Okay, maybe I am getting a little carried away - but everything is better when the sun is shining.

With cottage season almost upon us, our time to get things done around the house and yard is sparse so we made good use of this weekend to catch up and get things in a respectable state so we can enjoy our weekends up North. Hubby ripped the weathered old top off the pool and worked all day to transform the pool of algae into an alluring oasis for more than the mosquitoes. I declared war on the overgrown shrubs and bushes with a pair of rusty cutters I discovered in the garage. I flew into action snipping, cutting, and ripping out the excess, piling it high on the lawn behind me. I couldn't wait to show hubby my enthusiastic effort to assist in restoring our yard to our former glory. So when he emerged from house after eating his lunch to tell me that he needed the pile out of the way so he could mow the lawn - my pride quickly shifted to panic. He told me not to rush - that he was starting with the front.

I soon realized that I had gotten more than a little carried away and I considered crawling under the four foot high pile I'd created. But the old competitive "I can do it" attitude kicked in and I made like a whirling dervish cutting the branches down to size and stuffing them into the yard waste bags, finishing just as hubby rounded the corner. He smiled widely and said "wow, you did it!"

We took a break and relaxed under the breezy canopy, and surveyed our work. We agreed that we are lucky to have the beautiful home we have and although it requires lots of work, it really is a labour of love. Lucky us. Poor muscles and bones. But thankfully - I have Aleve! And so goes another end to our week end. It's been a good one; a sunny one - and everything is better in the sunshine.

Random Rattling

Sometimes there is so much to say - that I say nothing at all. Disjointed emotions,  revelations, epiphanies roll around my head like bumper cars - independently, unattached to words; content to remain unlabeled.

The long weekend opener of the season has come and gone, leaving a promise of sunnier and warmer days to come. The lilacs are spectacular, tapping on the window pane,  their scent - heavy in the air. I captured some and imprisoned them in a clay jug, but judging by the droopy sprigs, they seem to be rebelling. Spent holiday Monday removing last summer's plant corpses from the garden to give the new greenery a chance to thrive. My aging rose bushes lashed out at me as I tried to retire the brown and broken stems - and I have the scratches to prove it! The dandelions went more peacefully but the nasty thorny weeds showed me who's boss!

We've been immersed in precious new life and conversely, the struggles of an aging life. The newscast is riddled with stories of political corruption and man-made and natural disasters. Like a pendulum I swing from disgust and disappointment to shock and heartache at the destruction and losses; Boston, Bangladesh, Iraq, Hamilton, Texas, and Oklahoma. And just when you start to feel the "negative creep" ... stories of human triumph trump all and reminds me of the best part of humankind. Sometimes optimism gets buried under the noise, but like the resilience of humankind, it is omnipresent and just when we need it most, it rises to restore.

Sometimes there is so much to say - that you just start typing and magically the words attach themselves to  emotions and revelations that are rolling around your head - and you are surprised!

Earthbound

Ground control to Commander Chris Hadfield --- welcome home.

In a few minutes you and your two fellow astronauts will drop through the atmosphere and land somewhere in Kazakhstan. After five months of orbiting our planet, you will touch down, down to earth, once again.

I started each morning with your tweets, "Good Morning Earth" and incredible captures of our world. And each night I would go to bed after checking in for your "finale" photograph. I watched intently as you showed us what happens to your tears when you cry in space; and sang along with you when you dueted with Ed Robertson of the Bare Naked Ladies from the International Space Station (ISS). And you taught us that you could be serious and competent, with humour! I laughed when you tweeted that you broke the tie on your pajama bottoms, but that it was ok - they wouldn't fall down!

You reached out and shared the wonder of space and showed us new ways of looking at our home planet. Your enthusiasm was palpable and contagious, and somehow your upbeat optimism stirred hope within us. You took us along for the journey.

 When you formally handed over the ISS to the new command, I shed a little tear - and I am pretty sure you did too. Thank you Chris Hadfield for all you've done and shared. You make me proud to  be Canadian - and an Earthling.

Petals of Mom

Dear Mom,
Today is Mother's Day; a day that conjures mixed emotions.
I am a daughter without a mother.
You are not here to spoil and hold;
not here to laugh with or tell my dreams to.

And yet my love for you grows deeper.
I hear your gentle voice in my head dispensing quiet guidance.
urging me on, laughing, nodding in approval, as only you could do.
Your love lives on.

If I could, I would tell you that your life had meaning.
You have a beautiful legacy of grandchildren
who genuinely love and enjoy one another
as well as a family who stand solid and strong.

I see you Mom, in the hummingbirds flitting at the feeder
and in the dancing prisms from the crystals in the window.
I hear you in my brother's voice and
see you in my sister's face.

The warm scent of your neck
as I cried into your shoulder, still lingers,
as do your wisdom and lessons
and unconditional support.

So Mom, I guess you can tell that I miss you more than ever.
Time has not dulled the edge of grief
Nor filled the void of loss.
But I can assure you that your love lives on.

Because as you taught us all,
love is eternal,
love never dies.
And you were pretty much always right.

And for that I am truly grateful.

Happy Mother's Day to all the women who are moms or who "mother" someone. Know your impact.

Fast Forward

Frigid temperatures finally gave way to Spring, coaxing trees and perennials out of hibernation. Days tumbled into weeks since my last post - the busy-ness of life, shifts and changes all compressed into a sliver of time. My parents divested themselves from their life in Florida and came home. Our grand lady Doris got sprung from her retirement residence and is happily back living with her only daughter. We celebrated my sister's 50th birthday in true famjam fashion. We welcomed the nineteen year old daughter of my west coast cousin for a visit and played tourist with  her. AND I have a brand new niece AND an ecstatic MIH!

Where to start... I've been on overdrive with reflections and emotions rolling around my head and heart. I will share the best way I now how... in pictures.