It is raining outside. Hard. I guess it is a downpour. I like that rain has different names: cloudburst, sun shower, drizzle. Lots of words. I’m not a fan of torrential rain when it is cold, but when it is warm a downpour is a wonderful thing. It is like […]
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 am missing my hometown today, the place where the stories and people include me. I am missing the geography that is sealed tight in my memory; the turns in the roads, the grade of the hills. I am missing the clickety-clack sound of the car going over the bridge […]
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.” Gandhi said that, a very wise man who lived his life as an example of non-violence and justice. Those are words we all should live by. Justice and fairness […]
I recently started a new job. I have two 10-hour shifts under my belt; certainly enough hours to bring into question my sanity and the limited endurance of my arches. This is an entry-level position, paying minimum wage. Why, you ask? I had some notion that if I participated with […]
The wind was blowing in my office window last week, repeatedly chasing papers off my already disorganized desk. I was deep in “writing thought” and was annoyed at the intrusion. I would have shut the windows, but I’ve been so hot for what seems like the entire summer; the breeze […]
Have you flown a kite recently? I haven’t, not since I was 14 or 15. It was a kite I made myself, at that age when one starts to resist assistance and strike out on one’s own—outwardly certain and slightly over-confident. My father gave me some hints as to aerodynamic […]
Have you heard of Sophia Scholl? Or Traudl Junge? Films have been released, separately, on each of them—a creative depiction of the choices they made and the startling differences in their legacies. They were two young German women at the beginning of World War II, born in 1921 and 1920, […]
When last did you pick up a pen and find just the perfect paper on which to write your thoughts, your worries, your questions; and then put that paper in an envelope, affix a stamp, and drop the envelope in one of those red boxes that say Canada Post? It’s […]
You remember Gracie, don’t you? Adorable fluffy pup of the Bernese Mountain Dog variety. She was going to fill the void in my life left by my ungrateful daughters who had the audacity to grow up and live lives of their own. Cute puppy. The one who peed on the […]
There is a lot of that stuff called “real life” swirling around these days; life that leaves me worried and sad. I think of the people I know and love as though they are part of my herd or my flock or my pride (call it what you will). I […]
I finally have decided what I want to be when I grow up. After much deliberation, and trial and error that led me down some wrong paths, I am convinced I have found my way. I get excited just imagining this perfect career. I’m all a-twitter inside—a huge silly grin […]
Do you ever have days when you’d like to let off steam; get some things off your chest in a loud manner, as though you are a baseball manager getting in the face of the umpire and his bad call and kicking some dirt on his shoes? I started my […]
