Allowed to be Free

Emotions ~ 

so often left out in the cold 

to shiver and grasp 

the nearest blanket or coat, 

not to warm, but to hide. 

When allowed to be free of 

wrapped up hiding places, 

emotions are crayons and markers,

watercolours and glitter.

“One thing you can’t hide ~ is when you’re crippled inside.”

~ John Lennon

Freedom of Speech

Jousting with words - 

sharp and to the point 

discussions that can end 

in an ultimatum,

agreement to disagree 

or in 

healthy compromise, 

to plant good ideas

and rejuvenate humanity.

“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, 

is like good sentence; or a good piece of music. 

Everybody can recognize it. 

They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.”

~ Barack Obama

International Women's Day ~ 2025

Yearning for a time that I was never in: 

Oh, to be a fly on the walls of 

my grandmothers homes, 

my mothers homes and 

all women of other lands and climes. 

To watch them walking and working, 

with bowed heads or heads held high 

no matter the work demanded of them 

catches my breath and 

I am grateful ~ 

grateful for the freedoms of today 

because their impassioned work 

slipped the knots to free us ~  

passing new found strength to 

our granddaughters homes

and great granddaughters homes.

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear 

to be frightened at the will of others. My courage 

always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

~ Jane Austen

Brave Enough - 2

At Victoria, B.C. Cenotaph Nov 11, 2015

I’m not brave enough

to leave my family

never knowing if I’d return

I’m not brave enough

to march into the unknown

and keep marching forward

I’m not brave enough

to join with the fight ~

to give away my blood

        ~~~~~

I am brave enough 

to accept the freedom 

to write these words

I am brave enough 

to be grateful for

each and every day. 

I am brave enough

to maintain peace

in my heart and in my home

“He who is brave is free.”

~ Seneca

Uncertain Freedom - A Rant

I have tried to keep discussion about the Covid 19 pandemic and all its variants on this blog to a minimum. The effects on my person have only been the restrictions.

To my knowledge, I’ve not even been in contact with anyone positive for any of the variants in the last two years. Yes, I do know of people that have been positive. So what’s the big deal today?

Well, I’ve been out for lunch two days in a row. Problem? 

All restrictions were lifted in this province February 28, 2022. In the last month, I’ve been slowly increasing my outside activities. A widely varying number of people wear masks - or don’t. However, I continue re-familiarizing myself with outside contacts. At the same time, I seem to have a low level of anxiety that I may not even notice until returning home. However, often I am exhausted, for no reason other than I’ve been enjoying a social time with friends! Calm returns after I’ve had time to experience home and quiet ~ sometimes I even get a good nap in!

I am definitely not the only person who struggles with this new found and very uncertain freedom. The uncertainty? The new sub variant of Omicron, BA.2, is circulating happily throughout Canada - including here in Saskatchewan. Sadly, reporting of the current Covid status in this province seems limited to scattered items in news sources and interviews. 

“Don’t pray for better days, pray for a better 

attitude to withstand uncertain days.”

 ~ Mac Duke, The Strategist

 

Remembering.... ~ 2

Remembering

to describe each moment impossible.  

childhood moments

teen years

today only

gaps of gray, pea-soup fog 

holes with no borders. 

fog creeping close to cherished snapshot memories.

pushed away by a mirage of feelings until……

Remembering joyful freedom

warm prairie sun on young skin  

rushing wind holding me up

balancing on wide spread – and very skinny – legs

in the back of the big grain truck headed west to Milestone

for one more load of furniture to fill the spaces around me.

Remembering sleepy hunger

sizzling bacon smell  

mingling with coffee’s delicious aroma 

meeting early morning, melting sleep ~

I hated coffee’s taste back then.  

Remembering breathless awe.

watery, waving mirage that was Lang

rising up in the east as if by magic at 6 o‘clock on a summer’s morn

gigantic blue dome sparkling from horizon to horizon. 

little hill, insignificant in days light,

hiding the prairie town as morning passes

Remembering restrained excitement

crisp popcorn smell on Saturday night

from Blaney’s popcorn stand across from the old brick Town Hall.   

delicious and buttery 

aroma wafting through the summer evening air.  

Remembering shivering fun

winter time cold.  

freezing breath to nose hairs and eyelashes. 

crunch of snow packed by boots, cars and trucks

plumped up slowly with a thick fresh layer drifting down.  

falling flakes sifting onto my toque, tip of my nose and warm coat 

on a short trip to the rink

white leather skates laced on 

cutting shiny crystal ice with sharp blades and picks.

Remembering….

this past year?

today?

What will it be?

"Memory is the scribe of the soul."

 ~  Aristotle 
(384BC - 322 BC) Greek Philosopher

 **Author's note:  I wrote and posted the original July 11, 2012. For tonight I've updated it with some revision including a prairie photo from last fall.

Voices of Change

Ideas that are given voice

whether in whispers or with passion

provide resilience to our lives.

Ideas that are given the energy

of belief and hope

surge forward in waves.

Ideas that are given freedom

outside of boxed in routines

shift what has always been done.

“If you want something new, 

you have to stop doing something old.”

~ Peter Drucker, American-Austrian educator

A Masquerade

Anxiety leaps and foams into white water, churning over rocks and branches, 

submerged and hidden from view, no direction but to escape.

Anxiety, like a trickster, 

seems to sparkle with energy

then dips and dives into the murk below disguising itself as passion gone awry

Anxiety coils itself tightly

oozing its way from deep inside

scraping nerve endings raw

masquerading as impending doom or death

Anxiety shaken loose

with a passion to be free

settles reluctantly into calm waters

washing away its sticky mask of fear.

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; 

the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

~ Plato

An Amazing Story

I found this story in an old journal. March 13, 2007. I’ve done a bit of editing - that was Doable. Doable. I’ve always wanted things to be doable. Money helps, but the logistics of things is almost more important. Doable. Isn’t that a great word?  Couldn’t there be a story about the Amazing Doable. Let’s see. What could be his story?

The Amazing Twins

The Amazing Doable was a flying trapeze artist flying from perches high up in the air. Flying through the air catching one swing after another. He loved the feeling of freedom that it gave him. He and his twin sister, The Amazing Miss Efficiency, travelled together from town to town. She kept them organized and on time. All the trampolines and ropes and trapezes were organized and kept in tip top condition. At first they travelled in a circus caravan. Then they had their own wagon with a team of brown horses, setting out on their own. Being on their own was not as lucrative as they had planned. There were few chances for a single show to be welcomed into the small towns they travelled through. After a time they had to break up their team of horses and sold one of the horses to a travelling circus. But, as they went, they always found a way to enjoy life and get the work of life done at the same time. Neither of them wanted to miss anything.

As they travelled they noticed that their horse was pulling more slowly, stopping the wagon many times before getting to the next town. And then they realized that their wagon had been patched and repaired so many times that they were beginning to patch the repairs and repair the patches. The Amazing Doable looked at The Amazing Miss Efficiency and said ‘Travelling in this wagon is no longer doable.’ The Amazing Miss Efficiency said ‘Fixing this wagon is no longer efficient. We spend too much time fixing the wagon and not enough time living our lives.’

So The Amazing Doable and The Amazing Miss Efficiency took another chance with their lives. They retired their old wagon, put their old horse out to pasture with a nearby farmer and found new ways to travel. They found new chances to enjoy life and get the work of life done in doable and efficient ways. 

“I think anything is possible if you have the mindset 

and the will and desire to do it and put the time in.”

~ Roger Clemens

Too High a Price

Today’s news was as always ~ wars, economics, brutality, global politics and yes, murders. There were ‘good news’ stories buried amid all of the debris that clutters our world. However, until this evening as I write my blog post, I did not understand the full impact of the today's murders of cartoonists, humorists and journalists at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo.

This blog that I post each evening is, in the grand scheme of writing and the writing world, miniscule. It is not even close to the world of journalism. But the very fact that I can, not only write my opinions, stories, poems, muses ~ anything I choose ~ and post my blog in a public forum is because of the freedom of speech inherent in our society. Until this evening, I had taken this liberty for granted. Sadly, although I could define ‘freedom of speech’ in a very limited way, I had not really even thought much about it. There is a time always for deeper understanding. When the price for that understanding is the brutal murders of so many others another world away, that price is far, far too much.

My heart goes out to all the family, friends and colleagues of the Charlie Hebdo organization. The magnitude of your loss is so much greater than what I can even imagine.

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent 

we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

~ George Washington

Remembering... ~ 1

Remembering...

Describing every moment impossible.  

Childhood moments

Teen years

Today  

Gaps huge. 
Gray, pea-soup fog holes with no borders. 

Fog, creeping close to cherished snapshot memories,

burned away by remembered feelings 

Parts of memory pictures. 

Remembering...

joyful freedom

warm prairie sun on young skin  

rushing wind holding me up

balancing on wide spread – and very skinny – legs

in the back of the big grain truck headed west to Milestone, Saskatchewan

Another load of furniture for the farm to fill the spaces around me.

Remembering... 

sleepy hunger

aroma of sizzling bacon blending and turning

with coffee’s delicious aroma 

meeting early morning, melting sleep.  

I hated the taste of coffee then - I sure do love it now.  

Remembering...

breathless awe 

watery, waving mirage that was Lang, Saskatchewan

rising in the east, as if by magic, early on a summer’s morn

gigantic dome sparkling deepening blue from horizon to horizon 

little hill, insignificant in days light,

hiding the prairie town as morning passes

Remembering...

restrained excitement

crisp popcorn smell on Saturday night

delicious, buttery aroma wafting through the summer evening air.  

from Blaney’s popcorn stand across from the old brick Town Hall

Remembering...

shivering fun

winter time

cold freezing humid breath to nose hairs. 

crunch of snow packed by cars and trucks

plumped up slowly with a thick fresh layer drifting down.  

white crystal flakes accompanying me on the short trip to the skating rink

white leather skates laced on 

cutting shiny crystal ice with sharp blades and picks

Remembering...

Today

What will it be?

"Memory is the scribe of the soul."

 ~  Aristotle 
(384BC - 322 BC) Greek Philosopher