The Final Touch

It’s been a wonderful couple of days ~

Home-work that pleases

Cooking and cleaning, 

baking and laundry

Lots of writing, gardening,

touching base with friends and family from home and afar

But the final touch?

This evening's dinner with friends.

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg

even though [s]he knows that you are slightly cracked.”

~ Bernard Meltzer

(The added [s] is the blog author’s)

Gut Feelings Ignored

Warning lights turned off

when we learn to ignore

flickers and flashes 

almost too faint to feel

almost too dim to see,

but electricity still 

flows and sparks

without warning.

Not severely destructive,

at least not noticeably so,

it burns through the air like

a cut of fork lightning.

leaving in it’s wake 

a vague, unsettled feeling that

something is amiss.

An aura of char and burning.

“A trembling in the bones may carry a more convincing 
testimony than the dry documented deductions of the brain.”

~ Llewelyn Powers

Thoughtlessly tossed, ......

     Thoughtlessly tossed......

..the bag was crumpled and old.  

In the light of day, small pieces of brightness,

winked through layers of dust, small relief in an otherwise bleak visage.

Any flecks of brightness, 
if examined closely, 

were spots of original color

not yet weathered away.

The bag buried in the land's debris for years, 

caught in barbed wire;

held up and surrounded by tumbleweeds and grass.  

What had it held?  Hamburger and fries?  

The bag, once full of good taste and smell, 

had been crumpled up and flung

from the window of a passing car.  

The wide highway, swept clean by the prairie wind

had sent the little bag to rest in the weeds,  

lonely and stuck.

Almost, and as if on purpose, the little bag seemed 

positioned out of the way of the elements.  

Sometimes a bird would perch on the wire close to it 

but birds and any other wild life had long since stopped 

checking the bag for scraps of food.

It was dry and lifeless except for 

bugs and critters using the bag for home and shelter.

Would a big wind tear the bag from it’s corner, 
sweeping the barbed wire clean?

Or would the bag disintegrate and become part of the land?

“It’s just not acceptable anymore to litter, just like it’s not 

acceptable anymore to dump anything into rivers or streams.”

~ Tracy Bowen

Edited November 22, 2023

Leadership Review

Where does leadership begin?

Who demonstrates leadership?

To learn the things 

a leader should do, 
there are

books

courses

classes

seminars

workshops

degrees

There may be a 

designated

elected

appointed leader within 

    family

    community group

    workplace

    service organization

however, it is at the grassroots 

of these groups of humanity that 

leadership is demonstrated.

Leadership has

humility

ethics

morality and

a core belief in oneself and 

ones personal values.

Leadership lives

outside of an office with 

no title

no name 

no credentials

Learning about being a leader begins in 
the roots of childhood, and 

anywhere along the journey we each travel.
The life we lead will show a direction for someone........

“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision

comes from passion, not position.”

~ John Maxwell

Summer's Ending is Sweet

Summer is fading away quietly.

Brilliant sun graced blue, blue sky today

Mere glimpses of the clear sky scattered through the beautiful windows at work.

Afternoon air, an interesting mix of

warm sunshine and almost crispy cold,

whispered in my ear to remind me that there are, at home, 

green gold pears fallen on cushioning soft earth

broad leafed squash plants hiding golden flowers and softball sized squash

tender young scarlett runner beans climbing, sharing deep orange flower buds 

a few struggling young green peas hesitantly reaching their green tendrils

You might wonder about my young plants and new scarlet runners - 

I only planted in mid July - the earliest I had the ground ready - 

just because I wanted to have my own garden fresh

tomatoes

beans

peas (don’t think I’ll get any)

squash

potatoes (I’m eating one as I write this)

Will the crisp-cold fall season enter quietly one night and freeze my ill timed plantings?

No matter - I only wanted the joy of my own food garden.

A fresh sweet pear with breakfast.

Tentative promise of fresh and home-canned tomatoes (my single plant is four feet high and loaded with flowers!)

A chance to eat beans - and peas - right off of the vine?

I really don’t need much in this world and much of it is right here in my own backyard.

“There shall always be summer in the grateful heart.”

~ Celia Thaxter

Suicide Prevention

Thinking about suicide prevention today, I am pretty sure I could not have prevented my mother’s suicide -

nor the suicide of two other relations,

nor the suicide of friends.

All three occurred several decades ago now, each far apart from the other.

Much younger then, in my twenties and then in my thirties,

I had been active in my nursing career for several years.

Clinically I had heard the word 'suicide'.

In those years there were few assessment tools 

for those of us in the health care professions.

As a nurse, I have only cared for those with

suicidal ideation

suicidal gestures

suicide plans

As a daughter and family member

the only tools I had as a young mom were in

my sewing kit

the kitchen drawer

the closet with the mops and vacuum cleaner:

not real effective suicide prevention tools.

I hear talk about

emotional pain

distorted thinking

(those are the polite ways of talking about ‘it’)

But does anyone really, really

understand what

emotional pain or

distorted thinking

is or feels like for someone that is suicidal?

What it’s like inside of those feelings?

Can anyone really, really know from the outside?

So my suicide prevention strategy is this - 

to start with myself.

To honour those who have gone before

not for their deaths or the manner of their deaths

but for the good and decent thoughts, deeds and lessons of their lives.

Whether it be one small thing - or a myriad of things-

character and colour

humor and kindness

smiles and laughter

and best of all the hugs.

I have also committed to live my own life in 

safety and health 

to those that are here and now - 

my families, friends and colleagues.

I share my story with those on the edge between life and death.

Not the details of the deaths 

but the rippled and rippling effects

of the suicide:

Each loved one will be forever missed.

Because you are 

child, mother, father, brother, 

sister, aunt, uncle, friend - 

that loved one - 

oh, I know that you don’t believe me, but your light will be missed.

I also know that your energy for living is all but gone,

but it can be rebuilt - 
extend your hand, 
accept a hand, 
stay with us please.

“Suicide is not a blot on anyone’s name; it is a tragedy.”

~ Kay Redfield Jamison, 

Night Falls Fast:  Understanding Suicide

I Believe

I believe.

No specific form or dogma

does my belief take, but

I can tell you that:

I believe in 

sunshine, blue sky and cloudy days

birds on the wing or perched on high on a branch. 

squirrels gathering nuts

dogs, cats and horses.....

animals of every kind.

I believe in the roots of 

grass, plants and trees

friends and family

entwined and reaching below the soil. 

I believe in a vast connection between all things 

in waters and rocks of this great Earth, 

the stars in the sky, the sun and the moon

all pieces and parts of the Universe.  

in awe of everything around me 

is humbling ~ I am a part of it all.

I believe in 

humankind’s innate ability to heal 

deep wounds that cripple and scar

small scratches that annoy. 

I believe

there is no greater power 

than healing when the connection is made

with self and Universe.

I also believe that, 

in our constant seeking 

for new toys and technology,

we may look too far outside of ourselves 

and bypass the inner joy of healing.  

I believe in

a babies cry and

the final farewell with

all the sharing of joys and sorrows in between.

We race the races and 

dance the dances to each other's tunes when really

our dance is our own to choreograph 

be it a slow and graceful waltz or 

a jumping, jiving jitterbug.  

In this world, 

in this day and time, 

I believe that 

we must dance our own dance and 

race our own race 

with brightly coloured balloons in hand.  

Bring your own music and 

dance your own dance,

the party is on......

“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe