A Blind Alley

In the silence between
questions and answers

air hangs taut and thick.

sharp answers punch the space

invitation to further conversation

torn to shreds and tossed to the wind.

Confidence on both sides eroded and torn.

“Recovery can take place only within the context of 

relationships; it cannot occur in isolation.”

~ Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery

A System's Approach

In the chaos of a work day long ago, one of my colleagues said,

'create a system'

and I learned and

found confidence in the flow

that systems bring with them.

Confidence that I would not be lost in chaos, busyness or maybe bureaucracy ~ and yet when the charged systems keep revving and running inside or outside the workaday world,

they threaten to stifle, suffocate and lay waste

to the creativity of heart, mind and soul

“Human beliefs, like all other natural growth, elude the barrier of systems.”

~ Miguel de Unamuno

Urban Comforts

Curtains waiting to be closed

against the dark night.

Wild wind chased silver slashes against windows and doors.

Inside warm, dry and quiet ~

the confidence of the urban dweller.

“There’s a certain confidence that comes with 

being sure about the way the world works.”

~ John Legend

Book Review: The Triumph of Seeds; How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History by Thor Hanson

Seeds are all around us. Falling from trees, hanging in pods from bushes, bags and barrels of coffee beans, and floating in the air like tiny umbrellas from a dandelion. I could fill this page with so many more examples, but I’m confidant that you can look around your home, your office or just outside and see either seeds, or a tree or a plant that has come from a seed, even the oil in your car. Thor Hanson has written a whole book about seeds. Writing that is charming, humourous and historical. From jungles to farms to grocery stores and clothing. Seeds that airplanes are modeled after. The animals and birds that disperse seeds throughout the globe. Personally I recalled much about my dad and the wheat and flax that he grew, the care that was taken of the seeds of grain throughout each crop year. Thor Hanson talked of the vast seed banks throughout the world. I recalled the personal ‘seed bank’ samples that dad kept in his office from each years yield of grain. Thor Hanson talked of seeds that are poisonous and seeds that are medicinal and how they were developed.

To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. It’s one I’ll keep in my bookshelf as a resource and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Discussion this afternoon at Book Group was wide ranging and interesting as we followed Thor Hanson through the history and The Triumph of Seeds.

“Without the act and anticipation of plantng and harvest, there could be 

no agriculture as we know it, and our species would still be wanderng in 

small bands of hunters, gatherers, and herdsmen. Indeed, some experts believe that Homo sapiens might never 

have evolved at all in a world that lacked seeds.”

~ Thor Hanson, 

The Triumph of Seeds; How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses and Pips 

Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History

Title:  The Triumph of Seeds

Author:  Thor Hanson
Publisher: Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Publication Date: 2015
ISBN: 978-0-465-05599-9 (hc.: alk.paper)
ISBN: 978-0-465-04872-4 (e-book)
Type:  Non-Fiction

Honouring International Women's Day

Tomorrow, March 08, is International Women’s Day. I have never taken the opportunity to celebrate this anniversary initiated in 1908. I really have never paid much attention to it until, actually, last year. Don’t know why it has taken so long to draw my attention. I suppose like so many other things, I have taken my rights as a woman as normal and natural forgetting that at one time women had none of the rights that I enjoy today: personal independence, a voice, the ability to vote as I choose and to do whatever I choose given the means to do so. Today I enjoy a feeling of confidence that may have been a stranger to that woman in times gone past. I am not so naive to think that women often still have to work towards parity in many areas of life. There are many that wish to hang on to the ‘man’s world’, and this includes both men and women. There are many of us that are comfortable in our independence from that structured world and at the same time, comfortable in reciprocal relationships with partners and colleagues.

“International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.” 

“The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that 

women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves.”

~ Louise Otto

Quotation from:    www.internationalwomensday.com

Saturday Afternoon at the Symphony with Elvis

It was an amazing tribute. A Tribute to the King. Once more this gang of rather mature teenagers took our seats for an afternoon at the symphony. Elvis and Symphony!? Scott Coulter, Graham Bailey, Justin Talkington and Michael Holland with Danny Mallon on drums took us from the 1950’s through the Las Vegas years. They clearly told us they weren’t Elvis impersonators. Their show was their tribute to Elvis Presley, with bits of history added between songs. They included the Jordanaires, who sang backup vocals for Elvis from 1956 to 1972, in this musical tribute. I did not sit still throughout, except during the ‘slow’ songs (Are You Lonesome Tonight). Backed up by the Victoria Symphony, the music rocked with depth and power that I’m confident would have made Elvis proud. I mean really, kettle drums, cellos, brass and violins! It was just plain fun. (The early years were my favourite - Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes…….)

“Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help 

but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.”

~ Elvis Presley