On a Morning Walk ~ Stripes and Shadows

Waters lightly frozen, 

 dusted with frost 

a canvas for the sun.

“December’s wintery breath is already clouding the pond, 

frosting the pane, obscuring summer’s memory.”

~ John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

 

Forward

Walking uncertainly

into a new phase

I stand still slowly 

so I can see memories 

fading into the distance.

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.”

~ Steven Wright

Moon Songs

When the moon rises in the east, arcing over the sky til morning, the night sings a softer song

When the moon shadows its arc, the sky fills with stars, the night whispers whimsical songs.

From the darkness below

to look up to the night sky

is to be enchanted by the beauty.

“Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly.”

~ Khaled Hosseini,  The Kite Runner 

A Good Start

Cooking with Potatoes is the beginning of another creative journey. This is not the cookbook I had planned to begin with, but I have an overabundance of the starchy spuds! So I melded two goals together - use up the potatoes and begin my at home cooking lessons. I began with Potato & Meatballs in Spicy Sauce. Despite the name, the potatoes, the starchy element, are mixed with meat and spices.

I have been cooking from childhood til today. One of my early kitchen memories is watching mom or one of my sisters preparing and cooking food. I don’t often use recipes, even though I have more cookbooks than I need. Tonight, I followed the recipe, almost perfectly. I have potatoes, just not mealy potatoes which the recipe called for. The meatballs should have been made smaller than I made them. So, while the flavours were delicious, the meatballs fell apart. Not a bad start, just a lesson learned. Don’t overcook the potatoes - get’s rid of all the starch needed to bind the meat.

The result was my supper, as well as two freezer meals. A good start!

“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, 

he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”

~ A.A.Milne

Candy Cane Memories

Picking up the pieces of this candy cane time has left my fingers sticky with the sweetness of nostalgia and new memories. My memory file stretches backwards through time. I wash away the stickiness and close the file. The sweetness remains to be savoured another day or time.

“How quick and rushing life can sometimes seem, 

when at the same time it’s so slow and sweet and everlasting.”

~ Graham Swift, Tomorrow

Traditional

Publisher: Blue Orange Games

I learned a new board game tonight! 

Played with strategy and puzzle pieces

Participants: 1 seven year old and 3 adults.

Since I was old enough to move the marbles on the Chinese checkerboard, our family has played Crokinole, Risk, Chess, Monopoly, many, many different card games, and more that have drifted to the bottom of my memory. This new one may look like a silly child’s game, but it has a good strategy to it, and designed with youthful colours and pictures. I had fun. And more delicious food and wonderful family company. What a satisfying Christmas gift!!

“In every conceivable manner, the family is

 a link to our past, and a bridge to our future.”

~ Alex Haley

Christmas Day at Home

Reading

 Resting

  Visiting across the wires

   Watching movies

     Snacking

It’s all good!

“At some point, you gotta let go, and sit still, 

and allow contentment to come to you.”

~ Elizabeth Gilbert,  Eat, Pray, Love

Merry Christmas to all………….

 …..and to all a good night!!

Leaves

At Christmas,

when families gather

there is laughter and longing

as stories are unwound about

ancestors

    school days

        children

            grandchildren

future, ideas, plans, beliefs

until we go separate ways at eventide

“…the knowledge of one generation could be handed on to the next, 

so that each age could profit from those that had gone before.”

~ Arthur Charles Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

On a Morning Walk ~ Quiet Beauty

A light dusting of frost,

changed pretty flowers

into delicate works of art.

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

~ Confucius

Music and Dreams

 

Music enters my soul, 

fills me with rhythms

that dreams have made.

“Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear.”

~ Beethoven

Found: A New Eatery!

What a nice surprise! A pair of us roam around Regina to different venues for coffee and a bite to eat now and then. Today, roaming didn’t take me far from home! In the Viterra Building, at 2625 Victoria, between Angus St and Albert Street, Tarragon Restaurant has been open for about two months. The service is excellent and the decor beautiful. The very pleasant manager came to our table to welcome us to Tarragon. 

A first time visit to this Asian restaurant, we only had coffee and a croissant breakfast sandwich, however their menu looks intriguing for future visits! The menu can be found on their website that I've listed below. We were treated to macarons made in house ~ beautifully decorated and delicious. 

With the grand windows and lovely tables, it also looks like a perfect place for me to take a book or get a writing session in while having a delicious lunch. Even on the busiest of days, restaurants and coffee shops are good places for me to take my reading and/or writing for a treat.

“Food is not just eating energy. It’s an experience.”

~ Guy Fieri

Facebook: fb://Tarragon Eatery Restaurant

Website: tarragon7.wordpress.com

On an Afternoon Walk - Back Alley Character

This guy is a character. I snapped his photo yesterday afternoon on my walk. One portrait among one or two others in the back alley, he seems pretty ok with his surroundings. Perpetually a charmer and probably a tough guy, he can handle anything that blows his way. 

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, 

because your character is what you really are, 

while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

~ John Wooden

On an Afternoon Walk ~ Back Alley Poetry

Back Alley art is garish, harsh, beautiful or sensitive. I’m sure there are many adjectives that describe the graffiti splashed in such brilliant colours in the greyness of alleys. Shock value when all around is filled with windblown trash, garbage bins, recycling bins across from dusty parking spaces for tenants of square, utilitarian apartment buildings. These marvellous paintings are on fences, railway cars, buildings, and anywhere there is a flat surface that begs to be a canvas for an artist. I’ve been down this particular alley a time or two in bright daylight because it offers a shortcut and a brilliant art tour. They’ve changed since my last sojourn last summer. Stopped in my tracks, I read the poet's words and was comforted.

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, 

a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”

~ Robert Frost

Being Alive ~ 2

Dreams whisper away into bright sunshine or cloudy sky

waking energy chases dreams 

into the pillow

feeling life 

with the brush of cool air on arms that embrace each moment

feeling life 

from the cold floor 

on feet that walk us through time and space

feeling life 

with each breath that we breathe

while the coffee perfumes the morning

With all of this life,

what we do with each day is ours to create.

“Today you are you! That is truer than true! 

There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”

~ Dr. Seuss

Being Alive ~1

“I just want to feel alive.” I couldn’t believe I said that! Suddenly I realized what day it was. My mom passed on this day 1971, suddenly and tragically. With that realization, I felt alive. Still missing a certain amount of energy, but I felt my toes, my skin, my face. And I felt grateful and sad. Not unhappy. The sadness had become too heavy to carry and did nothing to honour mom’s life. 

On my walk home this afternoon, I looked up at the sky, clouds barely covering the blue, through the heavy lace of old elm tree branches with awe. I no longer remember the touch of her hand or the sound of her voice; photos remind me of her face, yet I feel her presence daily - especially in the kitchen!

“I love you every day. And now I will miss you every day.”

~ Mitch Albom, For One More Day

This post dedicated to my mom.

988 Suicide Crisis Helpline

 - calls or texts to 9-8-8, free of charge.

 - the 9-8-8 service can be used by anyone in Canada, 

including children or youth

 - Go to 988.ca for more information

Learning to Write

Writing ~

Stringing words together 

from the pull of a theme or story gleaned from stray thoughts or deep commitment. 

Logical thought is useful 

for an outline, 

story paints the picture

but those stray thoughts

find where deep commitment lives.

“A writer is someone who has taught his mind to misbehave.”

~ Oscar Wilde

Brown, Bright and Brilliant

January 05, 2023

A brown December ~

patches of grey marbled snow, 

bumps of ice on sidewalks and roads

But the sun!! 

Brilliant and blinding and warm!

A glare of light in a blue sky.

A short walk after a lovely afternoon at Le Macaron, Decadent Desserts & Cafe, full of sweet treats and delicious hot drinks

where laughter and conversation

wandered through our various worlds

of grandchildren, world events, travel, books……..

“Ah, good conversation - there’s nothing like it, is there? 

The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.”

~ Edith Wharton, novelist

https://lemacaronregina.com

On Facebook: Le Macaron, Decadent Desserts & Cafe