Delicious Aromas

The granola toasted ~ filled 

with oats, nuts and seeds ~ 

resting on the counter 

giving up the oven to 

a loaf of oat whole wheat bread. 

The aromas of spices and bread giving home the scent of other homes. This greater and short lived joy pulls all my homes out of thin air with memories from 

farm to apartments to houses

throughout the decades. 

It always surprises me when 

I can truthfully measure 

my life in decades. 

Through travels,   

  education 

     careers,

    families and friends

but aromas are home life 

inside the memories. 

No granola in the past, 

but the spices are the same as 

   the cookies, 

     apple sauce, 

       apple and pumpkin pies

from decades past. 

“Nothing awakens reminiscence like an aroma”

~ Victor Hugo, poet

(1802 ~ 1885)

Warm Sun, Warm Friends

Over the Hill Orchards and Winery, 
Lumsden, Saskatchewan

On a patio overlooking 

the Qu’Appelle Valley 

in the warm sun, 

we shared a lovely afternoon. 

Cold drinks and fresh desserts

 - saskatoon pie, 

    crepes stuffed with cherries, 

      rhubarb crumble, 

         apple pie kept conversation 

to a minimum for a short time. 

If we didn’t eat quickly 

our ice cream or 

  whipped cream toppings 

would melt!

Discussions ranged from travels 

throughout the world to 

   one member's garden with monarch butterflies 

then it was a walk down to explore  

     Over the Hill Orchards and Winery.

“Friendship is unnecessary, 

like philosophy, and art…It has no survival value; 

rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

~ C.S.Lewis,  The Four Loves

Contact: Over the Hill Orchards and Winery at

   overthehillorchards.ca

Branches

Intending to follow 

the direction of my heart,

I set out without a map. 

As a child, instruction from parents 

~ and any adult ~ 

composed a singular map 

Adults were all knowledgeable? 

An adult for many years, 

the truth of what I have known  

has been pared, shifted and changed 

with many maps needed and used

   Lives lived by example

     

   Instructions books

       Text books

   Advice from family and friends,

    Books of all kinds

  Noticing nature’s ways of growing

I set out with many maps in my heart. 

“Maps are way of organizing wonder.”

~ Peter Steinhart, writer and naturalist

Silent Wings

Four geese flew low 

preparing for the long flight south 

it is always comforting to hear 

that soft ruffle of their wings 

then I know that a part of nature 

is blood and bone as are we ~ 

traversing life on the silent wings of 

ancestors, family and friends.

“You are born to fly, and in dreams you remember the soul has wings.”

~ Robert Moss, Australian historian

When I Stand

When I stand outside 

the life I’ve chosen to live 

I see loneliness or a life

without meaning yet 

When I step inside the life 

I’ve chosen to live 

I feel fulfilled and

meaning is all around. 

When I stand outside the life 

I’ve chosen to live, I love the busyness of community 'til

I long for the quiet of home 

When I step inside the life 

I’ve chosen to live 

I sit down with pen and paper 

to frame the meaning of my heart.

When I stand outside the life 

I’ve chosen to live, 

my life is a joy 

with friends, with family.  

When I step inside the life 

I’ve chosen to live, 

I miss them all but am surrounded 

by the gift of their presence in my life.

“Even the longest journey must begin where you stand.”

~ Laozi, philosopher

(604 BC ~ 531 BC)

Sound Strange?

Today

a day off

sound strange?

no appointments, 

shopping or gatherings. 

Attending to home.

Home

where family& friends surround me

in memory, photographs and things.

Things

paintings, china, knick-knacks

ideas, gifts, and blankets

Today

a day off

sounds just right.

Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind.”

~ N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season

A Balancing Game

What do I write about tonight?

Something short, intelligent and brimming with wisdom 

~ or not. 

While my head 

senses my balance, 

I sense my discomfort, 

my lack of balance. 

Where does it come from ?

The inner ear, 

some kind of brain function 

 ~ both in agreement?

Or maybe something unknown?

Regardless, balance was restored 

by a good chat with a friend this afternoon 

and an evening out with other women 

to discuss matters of entertainment and food 

while watching others win door prizes.

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, 

then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.”

~ Robert Fulghum,

(Author of All I Really need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten)

Any Other Day

Any other day 

could have been filled 

with sunshine or raindrops 

but today is 

not like any other day 

even though filled with 

the decisions of any other day. 

Which mug to fill with tea, 

which task to do, 

which part of life to live, 

which time to be here or there, 

which friends and family to enjoy. 

Any other day 

could have been filled 

with sunshine or raindrops 

but not the same ones that filled this day.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

~ Muhammad Ali

(1942 ~ 2016)

The Silence of In-Between

In the spaces between 

 family name 

   schools

    

     group membership

we live alone 

   

   to know ourselves.

 To belong to the wider world 

    fills us with vulnerability. 

In groups of family or friends 

  we risk being lost. 

Lost in 

    ideas, 

   opinions 

         beliefs 

       image

until we know that

   belonging begins in 

the silence of in-between.

“Longing, felt fully, carries us to belonging.”

~ Tara Brach, psychologist