No Time for Struggle

No time for struggle ~ 

to be right, 

  to know the future, 

    to lament the past

Too many opinions and worries in this big old world

   solutions outsized 
for time, 
  for skill, 
    for dollars and good sense

Puzzle and thought wondrous trellises for buds and blossoms

   play with joyous spirit  

     work with a passionate heart

        let go of tomorrow's outcome ~ 
creativity will work out the tough knots

Struggle misses the flow of music and dance ~

time within each moment belongs to 
   heart, 
      mind 
        and soul.

“Why not just live in the moment, especially if it has a good beat?”

~ Goldie Hawn

A Brief Glance through Time

In childhood, time whirls around fast as a spinning top 
Adolescence stretches like taffy or races in leaps and bounds till
work life keeps time yawning long and wide pacing as the very slowest of turtles ~
yet family and friends, like bubbles and sparks, smooth many long, long roads ~
momentum builds and picks up speed as days turn to years……
The clock keeps tick-tick-tocking as time starts its whirl again.

“Time does not pass, it continues.”

~ Marty Rubin

A Timely Adventure

A Timely Adventure

Terrence the mouse scurried along long stretches of baseboard into the kitchen. 
Inching his way under chairs to creep under the long tablecloth, he found lovely bits of cheese and bread.
Martin, the cat, snoozed on the fuzzy grey rug by the crackling fire, certain all mice had been chased far away.
Eager to nibble, Terrence cautiously sniffed the delicious kitchen air and stayed under the table snacking on delectable dinner crumbs, scuttling away just as Martin woke up with a yawn and a stretch.

“Make use of time, let not advantage slip.”

~ William Shakespeare

Marginalized Health Care

Time from last drink of alcohol to a liver transplant: six months, a requirement before surgery. Sobriety before any surgery is only logical and definitely necessary. What supports were put in place to allow this to occur? Early sobriety can be at least as devastating mentally and emotionally as recovering from major surgery ~ unless the individual is offered treatment and support for this chronic disease condition.

All details surrounding this constitutional challenge by Ms. Deborah Selkirk in Ontario are limited to media reports. Ms. Selkirk’s husband Mark died in 2010 due to liver disease caused by his alcoholism. If offers of assistance with early sobriety, as part of the health care issue, were made there is no mention of them. Ethical nursing care and medical management would dictate a plan of care to stabilize any and all health and disease conditions.

“In my opinion, our health care system has failed when 

a doctor fails to treat an illness that is treatable."
~ Kevin Alan Lee, The Split Mind: Schizophrenia

Book Review: True Women by Janice Woods Windle

A Christmas gift from my sister, Betty I began this book not knowing much about the story. Because I had lived in Texas at the time this book was published, my interest was piqued. Reading the book jacket, I learned that it was historical fiction about two Texas families from 1860 to the 1940’s. This story revolves around two Texas families and the specific women of these families. How, over the generations, women’s place in society changed and yet remained the same. These strong Texas women stayed home raising children, protecting ranches with rifles and courage, and living under the expectations of a man’s view of a woman, but according to their own hearts. What I particularly enjoyed was how the various women of this piece of fictionalized history dealt the sociological changes of each time. Each time had it’s own war - the Civil War, the First World War and the Second World War, not to mention the warring with Mexico and with Comanche. 

The story tells that when emancipation arrived, many of the people, previously slaves, remained to work the fields. This is such a delicate topic in history. Added to this delicacy are whispered family secrets that were never agreed upon even by the oldest living members. 

Janice Woods Windell has a Facebook page with updated information about the town of Sequin, Texas where the remaining family homes are now historical locations. 

“Everything in this world is all in one piece. It’s spirit and flesh and past 

and future all rolled together, like holy dough risin’  through time.”

~ Idella from True Women by Janice Woods Windle

Title: True Women
Author: Janice Woods Windle
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication Date: 1994 (Hard cover)
Format:  Hard Cover
ISBN: 0-399-13813-7
Type:  Fictionalized History
Printed in the United State of America
Published simultaneously in Canada

On a Monday Morning Walk

Cool, moist air….
a different to walk ~ instead of Dallas Road,  
Willows Beach in Island winter welcomes dogs and their masters
We walkers stay up on the sidewalk to stride out our allotted time before meeting friends for coffee. 

Turning around, it's back up the sidewalk, then into a side road along a quiet lane; 
beneath a grand old tree snow drops shyly nod at passersby.



Cappucinos, tea and lattes with friends at Kate’s Cafe in the Oak Bay Beach hotel rounds out a pleasant morning. Remembering our many conversations after our walks, I know that we women have learned a little more of life, because we are able to be involved in the life of our time.

“I always feel so sorry for women who don’t like to walk; 

they miss so much ~ so many rare little glimpses of life; 

and we women learn so little of life on the whole.”

~ Kate Chopin,  The Awakening (first published in 1899)

Movie Review: 'Mortdecai' directed by David Koepp

This photo does not do this movie justice - at all. But then, nor does the movie review. Reviews like this make a movie a ‘must see.’ The movie, Mortdecai, is in fact a ‘must see’ - but only if you enjoy laughing out loud and having a good time.

Johnny Depp, in the role of Charlie Mortdecai, is an art dealer…dapper and not exactly honest, but he has a lovely moustache. He and his glamorous wife Johanna, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, live in an enormous mansion in the English countryside. Charlie is commissioned, (actually arm twisted), by Inspector Martland to find the painting in return for enormous tax debts. The Inspector, an old school chum, is also in love with Johanna. Jock, played by Paul Bettany, is Charlie’s manservant, always at the ready to protect Charlie. Jock, quite brutish, suffers gun shots, fist fights, threats to his person and comes out without a scar. And always with a ‘it’s all right, sir’.

This movie was just plain fun. There is absolutely nothing deep about Mordetcai.

“Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.”

~ Derek Bringer

Starring Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow

My Own Time

A rainy Saturday, shutters closed against the grey.

Snuggled with a cup of coffee, warm fleece housecoat, and slippers snacking and texting my sons for an upcoming weekend

Paying bills that don’t forget to arrive.

Reviewing wit and wisdom on Facebook, reading the paper,

sewing buttons on towels.

Planning time with a friend for a movie tomorrow

(Mortecai with Johnny Depp)

Yawn!!  I’m so drained…….

Should I read or go to bed?

Such a big decision deserves a cup of tea first…..

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, 

listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A.A.Milne