On an Afternoon Walk ~ The Song Bush

Welcome fresh air and misty rain accompany me on my walk into my afternoon break down a gritty grey sidewalk where parking meters stand at attention and tick away the time.

Rows of vehicles on one side in a broad parking lot wait patiently for owner’s return,

orange parking tags dangling from rear few mirrors.

On the other side the manicured song bush rises high in the air at the end of a non-descript apartment block,

a thick green brown latticed apartment block for tiny grey finches that twitter and sing from dawn to dark.

Orange berries dangle from rain wet branches, ever bearing banquets for the feathered chorus.

Hidden on branches by twigs and leaves, tiny wrens and bright berries decorate city concrete and housing just because they can.

“With innovation and technology, seems we have forgotten 

to cherish the true beauty the world has to offer.”

~ A.C.Van Cherub, 2008

Shifts in Time and Place

From writing about nursing 

to nursing and writing.

All about patient care ~

proposed or delivered…..

From composition on a laptop

to computers full of data and consultations.

It’s still all about patient care ~ designed or documented…

Shifting from work at home to

shift supports that bring home the bacon

It’s all about self care needed for both work and home ~

Time scattered and scheduled, but mostly well spent.

“Life is not a matter of place, things or comfort; rather it conerns 

the basic human rights of family, country, justice and human dignity.”

~ Imelda Marcos

Warming to Awareness

Air crisp, cold and lovely - holding time in each chilled breath….
Protected ferns still green and graceful surround barren branches.
Fuzzy little mittens warm frigid branch tips of the pussywillow at my front door.

Puffs of cold air send me back inside for scarf and winter hat.

Scraping car windows, a frequent yarn in coffee shops and work places,

remind me to keep my own mittens at the ready.

I look forward to scraping windows in the early morning.

On my drive to work, corners lightly frosted with black ice may threaten.

It’s only been +5 today but clear skies let cold air settle - a foreigner in this temperate clime.

“Awareness without action is worthless.”

~ Phil McGraw

Found: Energy and Voice

I have little to say tonight except YAY!!
Does that mean I’m done or even close to completion of my writing project?
Nope!
It does mean that I’ve had, in the last two days, several hours of writing time in steady chunks.
Transcription, editing, revising, rearranging…………
But several hours!

So, what happened?
Where did all that energy come from?
I’ve been very unimpressed with what I’ve written so far.
Certain that anything I’ve written is absolutely terrible and should be filed in the shredder.

Well,
First anger boiled and steamed about an ethical situation.
Then dejection cooled my anger about my written work and the value of it to anyone else but me.
Then inspiration lasered through it all from a few words on a book jacket.

There is much more detail, but I’ll not borrow your time for it.
Suffice it to say ~
I found my voice (for now) and have been putting it on the page ~ still very awkwardly but,
YAY!

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, 

first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.

~ Thomas A.Edison

Occasional Gentility

High tea at the Empress

Eight senior ladies in Monday morning finery, in high ceiling decor reminiscent of times past.

Tuxedoed piano player tinkled a musical underscore for mid morning tea and dainties. Tea (and coffee) poured from silver pots into delicate china cups.

Fresh strawberries and whipped cream began the parade of dainties.

Three tiered plates were presented for our enjoyment by the efficient and pleasant waiter.

The plate at the base had a variety of finger sandwiches - alas only a bit of parsley left.

And the middle plate - delicious scones, strawberry jelly and whipped butter.

Finally crowning the top, our dessert dainties ~ the chocolate mousse in chocolate cups the very best.
Conversation escaped between bites about politics, economics and well…..George Clooney (a discussion ensued about whether George was ‘aging well’! Aging!? He’s only in his fifties!)

A wander through the grand old Empress shops, a lovely finale to High Tea at the Empress

“Afternoon tea should be provided, fresh supplies, 

with thin bread-and-butter, fancy pastries, cakes,etc., 

being brought in as other guests arrive.”

~ Isabella Beeton, Mrs.Beeton’s Book of Household Management

Working It Out

Tied in knots ~
looking for that one end of yarn,
Little time to work out a problem of belief,
yet all the time in the world.
Do I throw the ball of yarn away
or
gently work at it until it loosens
unraveling to be worked into something fine.
It would be so easy …… if it really were just a ball of yarn.

“You have given intelligence to find one solution, 

and imagination to find ten.”

~ Amit Kalantri