I suffer from the affliction of chronic earliness. As afflictions go, I suppose it isn’t worthy of stewing about, as compared to the insatiable need to rob banks or chew my fingernails, afflictions of that nature. I never arrive late, and I wrestle with anxiety if being late appears as […]
Wendi Stewart – Wendi with an ‘eye’
Wendi lives in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, but the farm on Rainy River in Crozier will always be her home. MEADOWLARK, her debut novel released September 15, is published by NeWest Press of Edmonton. She is the mother of four daughters who did the unforgivable: they grew up. http://wendistewart.writersresidence.com
I walked Gracie for her final before-bed loop the other night, bundled up as if I was on a trek to the Arctic Circle. Bright flashlight in hand, I stepped outside and started off down my road, Gracie bounding ahead of me. It was a cold night, for sure, but […]
We tend to make lists this time of year with plans to better ourselves, to take up physical fitness, to stop anything that we find bothersome about ourselves, what we consider our flaws and oftentimes, said list can be very long. It’s easy to spend time thinking about what we […]
I was thinking about “wonder” this morning when I woke early, not sure what had wakened me but staying prone in my bed while the first thoughts of the day eased out of the small corners of my brain and into my thoughts. Wonder. What is it exactly? What experiences […]
One of my favourite books of the last ten years is The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd. Many of you will know of it, have read it, or saw the film adaptation of the book. It is the story of a child rising from loss and […]
I am thinking today of those struggling with mental health, perhaps feeling an increase in the weight of life at this time of year. Sometimes we think Christmas comes with a guarantee and maybe even an obligation to be joyful, as if hearing music around us and seeing images of […]
It is the time of year when many of us drag boxes from deep in the closet, from under the basement stairs, from the garage and as we open up the containers we celebrate what “was” more than what “is” or what “will be” and that is the very nature […]
“I’m no lady, sir, nor may you call me dear.” That is my mantra, the first part borrowed from a movie I recently watched (The Secret Garden) and the latter of my own creation. I never aspired to be a lady, much to my mother’s disappointment. Her list of my […]
I was thinking of how my brain works these days, when it’s on autopilot, while I am busy doing whatever it is I am doing on any given day. I must confess that while I am knitting, I can lose count in a heartbeat, more often than not, completely forgetting […]
I recently watched a video of a woman in a wheelchair, her body tired and thin, looking frail, and her memory had been stolen by Alzheimer’s. The music began to play, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and this woman began to move, her arms raised gently, her head swaying, her body remembering […]
I was thinking when I woke up this morning, while trying not to think about what may or may not happen south of the border today, November 3 as I sit at my desk to write, thinking about community and what it means now as compared to what it meant […]
I had to clean my eavestrough the other day in readiness for winter, that tiresome relative we are obligated to invite over, a refreshing visiter but who always stays too long. I was fairly certain the eavestroughs were full to the brim, with leaves and pinecones and pine needles. My […]
