Wendi Stewart – Wendi with an ‘eye’

I was reading the words of wise women today in honour of International Women’s Day, March 8 as I sit with pen and paper to record my thoughts. The internationally recognized day has mostly been a day of celebration, though the day has been marked with protests demanding positive change […]

I know I don’t speak for everyone and perhaps it is quite likely that I speak for very few, but some will agree with me when I say I’m not a real fan of winter. I used to be. I suppose every kid on the planet would be a fan […]

The expression “it takes a village to raise a child” has always been true, but recently I was reminded that it takes a child to show us what truly matters. My six-year-old grandson has “lost” someone very precious to him. Linden didn’t misplace his special friend; she didn’t move away […]

Be careful what you wish for, was a common recitation of my mother’s while I was growing up. She also said bad luck was as easy to find as good, so hope or ask for neither. I was thinking this morning of her stance on too much of a good […]

I find myself, this morning as I sit at my desk, thinking about those people who helped shape my character when I was growing up. Not the idols whose pictures I taped to my bedroom walls. Not the athletes who inspired me to run faster and jump higher. Not the […]

I was reading about a play performed in Toronto at the moment of my writing this, a play written by Ahmad Meree, a Syrian refugee who found his way to Canada in 2016. The play is performed in Ahmad’s native language of Arabic with English subtitles screened along the top […]

I love oatmeal. It speaks to childhood and grandparents and all manner of remembering. I had oatmeal this very morning for breakfast. It’s a happy start to my day. This wasn’t so much a bowl of oatmeal; the method of cooking differed slightly. Instead of boiling it on the stove, […]

I was reading, the other day, about Mary Wollstonecraft, a British novelist. She was considered radical in her time, leading the way in what we would later call feminism, but her views at that time had no title other than madness. “I do not wish [women] to have power over […]

I was thinking the other day about the definition of belonging, of what it means to be part of something outside of ourselves, to feel a connectedness with others, be it friend or family. This time of year, where ice and snow and cold sometimes create barriers, a sense of […]

I walk to the mailbox every day. Well, every day Monday to Friday. More often than not, the mailbox is empty and when it isn’t, useless flyers or bills occupy the space. Still I walk with an eager lightness to my step and as I place the key in its […]

I was reading over the holidays about a Christmas tradition in Iceland and though we have packed away our decorations and memories for another year, I couldn’t help be fascinated and envious of Iceland’s idea. It is called Jolabokaflod, which means, to you and I, “Christmas book flood” or the […]

My children’s Christmas art work is up, the creations from their early childhood. Christmas lights are up. Nat and Bing are singing their versions of seasonal favourites to me. The snow comes and goes. The pileated woodpeckers are providing their background percussion as I walk. A deer bounds over the […]