Recuperation, Rest and Rejuvenation

Recuperation ~
Pulling the drive offline
The drive to do, 
to work, 
or even to play.

Rest ~
Setting aside task and travel
hanging up busyness
in favour of blanket and pillow.

Rejuvenation ~
To be welcomed and
with morning light a possibility
for a walk in the park sunshine or rain.

“What is without periods of rest will not endure.”
~ Ovid

Possibilities Within Time

Possibilities within time ~
blossoms that hide shyly 
waiting to be seen, to be heard,
to be invited into the sunshine
Fragile colour for homes and hearths.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have”

~ Eckhart Tolle

Once Removed

~Once removed
from earth and wind and sky

Once removed ~
a separation of heart and mind and soul

Once removed
into possibility, adventure and healing

Once removed
and yet home again to a different house

Once removed
ever the same yet grown by travels through life.

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot

 remove them without removing some of our own skin.”

~ Andre Berthiaume

Harm Reduction in Canada

My posts have been poetic, story, musings and my opinions. My opinion pieces have been about epilepsy, addictions and the state of affairs in the world. I have offered book reviews, movie reviews and an occassional play review. My life is pretty full and interesting.

Today’s post is inspired by an hour long seminar about Suboxone maintenance and Opiate addiction. Both topics can fill much longer than an hour, but for today a small group of health care professionals gathered to listen to a presentation about Suboxone, the medication we use for opiate withdrawal at the Detox where I work.

So much has been learned about the brain and still there is more to learn. For this nurse, brain function and the brain changes that occur in any addiction is the most important part of any level of addiction care. From those that work in street clinics and community teams to those of us employed in withdrawal managment or hospitals to the counselors, social workers and nurses that work in treatment centers across this continent, we are all working with individuals with varying levels of brain dysfunction. Although neuroplasticity can rebuild some of the damage, that rebuild will take years to complete and only with long term life stability. 

Long term opiate abuse has increased in Canada by leaps and bounds with the development of a variety of narcotic pain killers. The advent of the drug Suboxone (buprenorphrine/naloxone), has allowed those addicted to the longer acting opiates, to complete a withdrawal process, because of how it works in the brain at the level of opioid receptors within the brain. Brain changes also occur in long term abuse of any of other drugs whether prescription, illicit drugs, or alcohol.

Possibilities for pharmaceutical assistance in aiding those with opiate addiction were expanded. Problems arise with matters of funding for continued therapy, availability of clinics and pharmacies that manage Suboxone and the stability of individual life styles. These problems occur far too frequently, barriers yet to be addressed effectively. I continue to hope that these barriers are recognized and addressed.

“The hard things in life, the things you really 

learn from, happen with a clear mind.”

~  Caroline Knapp, Drinking: A Love Story

Book Review - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Bring your knowledge of British humour along when you read this book. Is that classist or rascist?  If you like to read about British village life, along with a good dose of British humour, classism and rascism this book will satisfy each of those categories.  The rules and regulations that families of ‘good breeding’ live by in both British, Pakistani communities, even if some of those have never ever been to Pakistan, are played out in the relationships that are formed, the honour bound rules of society and family and in the philosophical changes that take place as the Major and his neighbours and friends grow past sixty-five. From a ‘stiff upper lip’ and rather curmudgeonly look on life, to one of passion and acceptance, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand wends it’s way through life and love.

This afternoon's discussion at the Book group brought all of this to life for me. A novel that I first considered may be staid and colourless quickly became full of the possibilities when personality and cultural diversity challenge society's rules. This novel is on my 'to be read again' - list.

“Passion is all very well, but it wouldn’t do to spill the tea.”

~ Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

Title:  Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
Author:  Helen Simonson
Publisher: Random House Incorporated
Publication Date: 2010
Format:  Hard Cover, Large Print; Soft Cover, Large Print
ISBN: 978 1408 48687 (U.K. hc. Windsor Large print)
ISBN: 978 1 408 488688 (U.K. Soft cover, Paragon Large Print)
Type:  Fiction

Spring Magic

Snow drifted past my window
Pink and fragile ~ floating to grass and ground
Plum trees freeing their ornaments
Sharing the possibilities of spring.

“That’s what I love so about the Spring. It’s full of promises.”

~ Charles Tritten, Heidi’s Children

Edited: January 18, 2024

Precious Gems and Memories

Treasures amid the jumble of old jewelry, watches and broken necklaces poured out on the floor. The odd single earring or ones that need repair. The necklace that Kate crocheted for me. The parrot mobile tangled and faded - a gift from Fenna and Russ. The bead necklace that Adelaida Montemayor, a colleague, gave me in Texas - one strand broken and beads rolling on the carpet. A necklace that was mom’s - two in fact. A necklace made for ‘Gramma’ by Jonathan. So many family members and friends. Any of these could have been tossed away when they broke, or when I grew tired of them. But each holds a memory. A memory of kindness, of love and of laughter. They’ve all been hidden away in a lovely piece of blue pottery with a secure lid. Sitting on my dresser waiting for the next watch with a dead battery or bracelet from Egypt that lost it’s mates. Moved from home to home but always with a place on the dresser. An urn for jewelry once alive and full of sparkle saved for another day. Well, that other day came without warning. Just a poor grip as I was rearranging my things on my dresser top and the blue pottery fell. Not competely damaged but enough so it’s contents will no longer be in a safe place. So I’ve gathered them all on the table, sorted through them and am left with questions and possibilities. Which do I keep? Which do I fix or refashion? Which have lost their precious value of memory? Some never were very beautiful except for the hand that gave them as gifts. 

Found. The common thread that strings them all together. They each were gifts. Whether gifts from the living or a gift at the passing of a loved one. Not precious gems of diamonds, emeralds or rubies, but tangible baubles to hold and feel a misty connection. When the jewelry was worn and I felt the smooth bead or fashioned hand work on my skin it was as though a hug from afar was shared. Does this all sound too maudlin? Melodramatic? Is it time to let some of them go? I think so but I’m not sure when. I only know I don’t want any of them to be disrespected as trash or garbage. Will they ever have the same value to someone else? Of that I can’t be certain. What I do know is that if something is given with love it becomes the most precious of precious gems.

“A gift can never be cheap or insignificant 

because of the heart and love it carries.”

 Muni Khan