A Cat Tale - Spring Fever

It took her all day to get it!

I prowled and yowled (quietly)

I paced and raced about the house

I tried to open the windows to get at the crows

I scratched at the door to see if it was unlocked.

When she wanted to go outside

she finally took me with her

 ~ on a leash ~

at least I could roll on the grass,

climb on up on the railing and

feel the wind in my fur..

Time for a nap!

“Cats seem to go on the principle that it never 

does any harm to ask for what you want.”

~ Joseph Wood Krutch

Silent Standards

Principles of the highest standards

are difficult to maintain without

the wisdom of simplicity  

found in heart and soul.

Our busy minds full with details

poured on us by multitudes

are soaked through until

silence opens us to our own standards.

“Silence is a source of great strength.”

~ Lao Tzu

Simple, but Not Easy ~ January Theme 2018

Simply awesome!

Intriguing, in a most peculiar way……

Modest, yet many faceted…..

Principles of the highest standard……

Leverage is always …..

Investing in yourself…..

"Challenges build character, young man……

Intelligence and intuition……

Threads of bright colour…….

Yesteryear was full of ……..

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”

~  Henry David Thoreau,  Walden and Other Writings.

Book Review - Principles to Live By - A Novel by David Adams Richards

This novel by David Adams Richards was a difficult read. It surprised me because I like mystery stories. How the author has travelled from beginning to end. All the nuances of character and mystery fascinate me. Without telling you the specifics of the story ending, I can tell you that the beginning was an unpleasant foster home event. A hint that social services were involved, I passed over without much thought. The end completed what became very convoluted stories and to my satisfaction.

Missing the discussion at this month’s book club was a disappointment to me as I had several concerns. My concerns were that the story seemed quite choppy to me, moving suddenly from a foster home in New Brunswick to the devastation of Rwanda and back again repeatedly. Then there was the disappearance of two unrelated children, one Canadian and the other from Africa. There were also an abundance of characters, which felt rather too much, however in retrospect were all necessary to these intertwining stories. The main character, John Delano, an RCMP officer at the end of his career, struggled doggedly through all these complexities. His reputation in question did not deter his focus to find the facts and to locate the children. Any complexities not only involved two children, but individuals at the highest political strata both in Canada and in global affairs.

A very intriguing read that I highly recommend.

"But there is something about it I never figured out 

- that is, I am not sure if it happened that way or not.”

~ John Delano, fictional RCMP officer

Title:  Principles to Live By

Author:  David Adams Richards

Publisher:  Doubleday Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited

Publication Date: 2016

Format:  bound

ISBN: 978-0-385-68245-9

Format:  epub

ISBN: 978-0-385-68246-6

Type:  Fiction

Author's Note: Edited February 18, 2024

"Principles above Personalities"

"Principles above Personalities"

Late in the day, Godfrey stepped away from work and into the cool of the pub. He didn’t come often to the pub and seldom alone. Today was different. He needed the quiet of a booth where he could eat his early supper in peace. His job at the brokerage firm had been on high all week. Frantic clients wanting answers in a horrendous political climate change. Answers he didn’t have. Only guesses after an extremely unpredictable and volatile week. Godfrey rubbed his furrowed forehead. He ordered steak and mashed potatoes but when it arrived he didn’t think he’d be able to eat. The weather was on the TV over the bar. High winds were predicted. No rain, just wind. Godfrey hoped the winds would blow away all the uncertainty filling everyone’s lives.

In the middle of city life, it is hard for winds to find everyone. Fickle winds whip around corners and down city streets. Godfrey picked at his food. He sighed. He remembered hearing a saying ~ he couldn’t remember from whom or when….‘Principles above personalities’. Maybe that was the wind needed to deal with this strange change settling like a heavy cloud over the country. The personalities on the political scene had too much flash and glitter, their true principles lost in the image. He would live his own principles...keep alert for his own beliefs. The steak finally tasted good. Butter and sour cream melted into the mashed potatoes. It was a delicious meal, his appetite ready to be fed. 

“It is reasonable that everyone who asks justice should do justice.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Sleep Walking

Wow! I can’t believe 
how sleepy I am!
When I’ve watched the news
everyone looks alert and awake
and yet
decisions made 
look like decisions
made while sleep walking!
Or
Decisions made
when the filters needed
for principled, reasonable decisions
are off
disappeared
gone

“You can’t make decisions based on fear 

and the possibility of what might happen.”

~ Michelle Obama

A Glaring Absence

In the past couple of days, I’ve listened to the radio, checked Facebook and watched TV. On radio, today I’ve listened to CBC’s Sunday programming. On TV I’ve watched Charlie Rose and the National. I have noticed a rather glaring absence of content. There has been no statement from the United Nations, which I find rather odd. This impact to individuals and airports around the globe really deserves the attention of the UN.  I contribute to the UN and have been a supporter for many years. Some, I know, believe the United Nations is ineffective and obsolete. I disagree. It is time for the United Nations to step forward. The machinations of the political world are far above my experience, education and pay grade. I am hopeful that those at the United Nations have been very busy this weekend discussing their principles and in doing so are drafting a position statement regarding this very wrong-headed ban. Too, too many families, communities and countries have been, and will be, affected by President Trump’s completely undemocratic ban. All of those families, communities and countries are, by themselves, nations divided and in turmoil and in great need of a United Nations.

One other point that I’ll make in this essay, is that while this ban has created chaos at airports, it just may create more opportunity for violence by anyone choosing to enhance the chaos - not necessarily those that Mr. Trump suspects.

“More than ever before in human history, 

we share a common destiny. We can 

master it only if we face it together. 

And that is why we have the United Nations.”

~ Kofi Annan

Roadside Principles

Roadside Principles

When I was ten years old, I didn’t tell mom, dad or even the cat. Mom was in the garden picking beans for supper. Dad was on his way in from the south field. The cat? Well, Silk was soaking in the late afternoon rays and didn’t really care about anything other than sleeping in the sun. I squatted down, and stroked her gently. Purring, she stretched gratefully.

It wasn’t anything scary - at least I didn’t think so. I just wanted to go for a walk before supper. I didn’t know that I’d get so absorbed in the countryside. Warm, west wind whipped my hair in my face in strong gusts, bending the grasses in the ditch. Puffs of soft black roadside dirt warmed my bare feet. I heard the car before I saw it. It was mom and dad. Mom hadn’t seen me walk out of the yard. She told me later it was as if I had vanished. But, it was easy to get out of shouting range on the farm. When mom called me for supper, the fourth time with not even a hint of an answer, she got worried. When dad drove in from the field, they both got in the car and started to look for me. A ten year old really can’t get that far, so they found me quickly. 

The wind died down, stilling the grasses. Distant growling tractors ruffled the evening air. Yellow-gold sun was just setting. Mom pulled over the car. Together, me, mom and dad, sat on the side of the road and watched as day settled into evening. There is no principle for such time, except the principle of family.

“You need to make time for your family no matter what happens in your life.”

~ Matthew Quick, The Silver Linings Playbook

Flu Season

“I’m not getting very far here.”

Andrew had started a thousand piece puzzle. He was confined to home. Not because he had been put under house arrest by police, but by the flu. The annoying flu. Andrew had been in bed for two days. He dragged himself out of bed, aching and restless. His wife took their children, two boys, to school then went to work at the Technology Institute. Andrew was home alone. His wife, Elise, had left salad and soup in the refrigerator. He could manage the microwave and to make tea and toast. He wasn’t completely alone. His old terrier, Max, followed him from bedroom to living room.

For awhile, he just sat in his easy chair in the living room, the sun streaming in the front window. He put his head back, closed his eyes and soaked in the warmth that wasn’t yet spring. He could almost feel himself stretch into the warmth, but was still too exhausted. After a short doze, he willed his muscles to move. That’s when he went to the hall closet and pulled out a puzzle from their vast collection of puzzles. He didn’t decide on a particular one, just took the top one and carried it to the dining room. He and Elise kept a card table in a corner just for jigsaw puzzles.

The tea kettle pierced the quiet house. Andrew needed some tea while working on the puzzle. He looked at the picture on the box. A gigantic tree in full leaf with red flowers, dwarfing a two story house in the corner of the picture. A tiny piece of sky. He pulled his housecoat tighter around him, his feet warm in old socks and slippers.

“I don’t know about that tree, but the sky…..” Andrew began turning over each piece of the puzzle. His muscles felt so weak. The tiny cardboard pieces felt heavy. Andrew had a principle for putting together any puzzle. Restore order. Start by turning over all the pieces. Get the corner pieces out. Andrew sat heavily on the card table chair, leaned forward and began. He forgot his aching and weak muscles as he began the search for the picture. Matching colours and shapes. Forgetting he was just barely recovering.

Andrew got up once for his glasses and another cup of tea, moving a bit more easily. He let Max out and then in again. Loving the quiet of the house, he returned to the puzzle. The house was built, the tree trunk started and that piece of sky was complete. Sitting up straight and stretching his back, he reached down and scratched Max’s ears.

‘Come on, boy. Let’s go have a nap. This tea is cold and the rest of the puzzle can wait.”

“Everything is hard before it is easy.”

~ Goethe

Career Moves

I might have been 
An operating room nurse
I liked the strict order 
But couldn’t see the patient
For sheets and drapes

I might have been
A paediatric nurse
I love children
But couldn’t tolerate
Their pain and bravery

I might have been
An orthopaedic nurse
I loved the mechanics
But couldn’t fix the reasons
Behind injuries caused.

I might have been
A physical rehabilitation nurse
And that was closer to my heart
Because I could support recovery
From all kinds damaging events

I might have been
A nurse specializing
In any other health care field
Because I saw the needs of many
But I saw one cause roaming throughout each specialty

I did decide to become
An addictions nurse
Specializing in withdrawal management
- not just detox - not just sobering up
But the priniciples of basic nursing care in all areas of nursing.

I occasionally am honoured to be
A nurse educator of these principles ~
A mentor to a nursing student
As they pass a day or maybe more
Learning about the beginnings of recovery.

“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life’.”

~ Maya Angelou

Feeling Faded

Feeling Faded

With her faded dress and worn shoes she was certain she couldn’t go on. The streets were long and hard. Her morning began in great confidence. She knew before she left the shelter that she wasn’t the best dressed, but she was clean and one of the other girls had fixed her hair. She felt she looked quite professional. Tricia expected some rejections, but as the morning wore on, she began to feel something hardening in her soul. 

Tricia had enough in her wallet for lunch. Lunch would fix her flagging feelings. The warmth of the small diner felt good. She ordered soup and sandwich - the cheapest on the menu. The ginger carrot soup was smooth and delicious. Just enough of a bite to get her attention. Tricia closed her eyes and sat back in the chair. Easing her feet from her shoes without taking them off, she curled and uncurled her toes. Sitting forward again, she carefully ate lettuce and roast beef sandwich. It might be the last she ate for the day, so savoured every bite. Once her lunch was finished, making sure to drink an extra glass of water, the Ladies room was her next stop. 

Tricia wasn’t done with her job search. In the mirror she saw a too young and too tired woman who looked lost. Straightening up, she brushed back her hair, put a smile on her face and smoothed her skirt. For too long, she had drifted, finally living on the streets, in shelters and couch surfing. She had been angry with her parents, always wanting her to ‘have principles’. Tricia hadn’t seen her parents for…. How long? She couldn’t remember. Tricia wanted to tell them that she now had at least one principle. To become independent. To get her own place. To stop drifting.

Despite her faded dress and worn shoes, she also knew that she would go on. She would find her place in the world. By the end of the day, she had one job interview for the next day.

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

~ Coco Chanel

Sparklers

Sparklers 

It was amazing. The sky was black except for the amazing stars covering the sky. A moonless night on the ocean is not a dark night. Thin drifts of cloud hung low over the water. Clarise hadn’t had  time to stop and listen to the night. They were busy that evening, busier than usual. She was new at the job of waiting on tables and really didn’t know why one night could be busier than another. Didn’t cruise ships have the same busy-ness all the time? But this evening was special. All the glitter of the outside was matched on the inside. But not the quiet calm of the beautiful night. Hockey Night in Canada was on the big screen. Most of the passengers had abandoned the casino, the featured entertainer and even a midnight swim in the pool on the upper deck. Many even had the jerseys of their favourite team. She joined in the cheering after a good play, and groaned when her team was scored against. In this strange gathering - hockey in the middle of the ocean - there seemed the unspoken principles of camaraderie and celebration. The night was well and truly sparkling.

“Life and light made up the interior, the realm of the daytime. 

The exterior was darkness and night.”

~ Chess Desalls, Travel Glasses

Author's note: Edited February 03, 2024

Claiming My Space

Claiming My Space 

Darren Johnson finally turned off the TV. Sitting in his living room with the ceiling fan spinning lazily, air-conditioner on, windows and doors closed against the heat, he had actually managed to get cold. As the street lights came on and the sun no longer blazed, he stepped onto the front porch. The air was heavy and moist. Traffic thinned with only the occasional car passing slowly on the soft asphalt. Although blessed to have air conditioning in his home, the tightness of his closed up home had begun to feel as stifling as the heat that still lingered. A glass of sweating ice tea in hand, the open porch with wilting plants and silent wicker furniture, he breathed deeply of the heavy evening air. Birds were silent except for a single night bird high in the trees of his front yard. The evening was calm, yet there was a feeling that he couldn’t pinpoint. He wanted to move, to get out on the road and walk. Restless, he paced on his porch avoiding the darkness falling on the land.

A sudden gust of wind set his rocking chair moving. Sitting in the chair he moved with the rocker. It was the TV news reports. They were the restlessness. Slowing the rocker, he took control of the moment,  his time and his space. "What's happening in the world, outside of my world, is gonna happen whether I watch it or not. Whether I worry or not. The world of politics and global affairs? Not my world.  My principles are my own." As Darren sipped his ice tea, the cold glass and the creak of the rocking chair connected him to the evening and the setting sun while the nightbird sang.

“Watching television is like taking black spray paint to your third eye.”
~ Bill Hicks

Author's note: Edited February 03, 2024

Reflections on What If?

Reflecting on The Women's March yesterday, I’ve asked a couple of questions. Of course, when I awoke this morning, my biggest question before I put my feet on the floor was - will my legs work? And my feet? Quickly I learned that all was well in that department.

But all is still not well in the world of political change. The Women’s March yesterday was peaceful, welcoming and safe. A gentleman next to me commented that he had not seen any police presence. When I asked some of the others around me, I was told that they had seen ‘one’ or ‘two’ walking casually through the crowd. When the March began, and as it proceeded, I did see police. They were quiet and respectful with their job to ensure there were no traffic difficulties. An aside - the motorists were as respectful, many waving to us, honking in solidarity.

Back to the police and my questions. I thought of the scenes from evening news reports showing riots and violence. People being dragged away, fires set and property destroyed. People being handcuffed and violently arrested. And I wondered ‘what if’? What if the March yesterday had turned from peaceful to ugly? How would I have reacted?

Standing up for a belief is relatively easy in a large peaceful crowd. Cheering each other on, singing and chanting. Would I run away? Would I sit down and hold my space in the knowledge that my principles were important? Would I freeze and not know what to do? Hopefully, I will never have to find out. 

What I was grateful for was the peaceful nature of everyone involved. Marchers and police, spectators and those unable to join us. Yes, there were hand lettered signs with which I disagreed. I have never agreed with ridicule of any other. It seems ineffective, cruel, and very counter productive. But that’s just me. So, what would I do? I really don’t know, however it has made me think about what I would be willing to do or say for my principles. What I do know is that, to the best of my ability, today I live my beliefs.

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth 

or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”

~ C.S.Lewis

Women’s Rights March - Victoria, BC

I’ll be honest. I was not going to go to the March for Women today.  I’ve never been to a march. I’ve never had any desire to attend any march. Today was different. Today, I wanted - no, needed - to see and feel this march. As I walked downtown, I expected to see women and men streaming to Centennial Square. But there didn’t seem to be much action. And then I saw them. Pink placards - Rights for Women! And pink hats - ‘pussy’ hats, and just ordinary - but pink or purple - winter hats.

There were, apparently, about 4000 people gathered with some peering from the tops of buildings. This march was organized by five different groups, spearheaded by the Raging Grannies. There was music by local musicians and, in chorus, many of us sang along. Speakers included Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, Carole James, MLA for the Victoria-Beacon Hill electoral district and Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria.

I could see the hundreds of people around me, but the crowd spilled down Douglas Street to Pandora a distance of several blocks. When the march began, we edged slowly out onto the street, filling it, blocking traffic on the cross streets as we wound down to Store Street and back to Centennial Square. Workers and staff coming out of their places of employment clapped and cheered as we passed.

I'm uncomfortable in crowds, especially big noisy crowds. This big noisy crowd did not scare me. The big noisy crowd told me that women, men and children in Victoria, as everyone south of the border and around the world, are paying attention. Paying attention to the threat to not just women’s rights, but to human rights, from the new leadership in the United States. People willing to stand up for their principles and to the source of these threats. Another disclaimer - I have not been clear about how a march will provide the resistance needed for change, however today I saw a critical mass of power. Visible and tangible. The power of citizenry that translates into votes and continued challenge to those who believe they hold all the power.

“I raise up my voice - not so I can shout but so that those without a voice 

can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”

~ Malala Yousafzai

Author's note: Edited February 03, 2024

On the Train

On the Train  

Lining the rail corridor, pines nodded their white caps in respect as our passenger train climbed a gentle incline. Aroma of fresh coffee made me smile. A newcomer to train travel, I was enthralled with the steady rocking of the car. My breakfast was served with professional aplomb. White napkins, stylish dinner wear and silver cutlery. Passengers chatted quietly in the early morning. Breaking through the conversations, a cheerful voice over the speaker had heads up and not a few worried frowns. A blizzard was forecast for later in the morning. Looking out my frosted window, I watched as the wind chased loose fine snow alongside the train. The beautiful landscape was blurred at the edges. Only shredded strips of gilded orange sky were visible in the building clouds. My joy of this first train ride in such a beautiful snowscape was juxtaposed with the principles of safety - principles I hadn’t thought of when buying my tickets. I relaxed when our porters brought to our tables the safety protocols to follow should the blizzard warnings hold true. I opened my leather bound journal, uncapped my pen and began to describe the story of my train trip.

“We all wind up drawn to waht we’re afraid of, drawn 

to try to find a way to make ourselves safe from a thing

 by crawling inside of it, by loving it, by becoming it.”

~ Holly Black, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Springtime Silence

Sunlight filtered through tall drying old growth pines, dust motes defining it’s golden rays. There should have been sound on this beautiful spring day. The scratch and chitter of squirrels and chipmunks busily gathering and scampering.  Rat-a-tat-tat of woodpeckers echoing on high. Robins and wrens scouting the territory. Nesting should have begun. Weathered signage along cedar chip trails waited silently to direct absent guests deep along paths lined with ferns and overgrowth. The principle of any national park is to provide sanctuary for wildlife, for citizenry and yet there was only silence this day. 

“Only within the moment of time represented 

by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired 

significant power to alter the nature of the world.”

~ Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Drawing a Line

Standards, based in beliefs, create direction.
but are the directions true?
when beliefs are skewed but firm
based in principles divisive and cruel,
standards can be at great odds.

Standards, based in beliefs, create direction.
But are all directions easy?
when beliefs are fair and firm
based in principles of goodness and reality.
Standing up for these beliefs is a challenge.

Standards, based in beliefs, create direction.
in today’s world
balance differing beliefs
based in principles of benefit and loss.
Carefully choose your own standards.

“Aspire to decency. Practice civility toward one another. Admire and emulate ethical behaviour wherever you find it. Apply a rigid

standard of morality to your lives; and if, periodically, you fail - as you surely will - adjust your lives, not your standards.”

~ Ted Koppel

Book Review: the Truth According to us by Annie Barrows

Out shopping one day last summer, I scanned a table of books. Annie Barrows name caught my eye and the title of one of her other books The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. So I looked closer. The title appealed ~ the Truth According to us. My ability to choose a book to read is often this shallow. However, after having read it, I recommended it to the group for my selection when it was my turn to host. This month, the Truth According to us brought the heat of a 1938 West Virginia summer to January, 2017 in Victoria, B.C.

Macedonia is a fictional small town in West Virginia in the year 1938. Layla Beck, a senator’s daughter, has been abruptly cut off from her privileged life by her father. Her highest education is limited to graduation from a Finishing School. She is unemployed. In the Great Depression. Her uncle Ben, under duress from his brother, gives her work with the Federal Writer’s Project. Historically, this Project was an actual federal initiative funding written work and to support writers in this economically devastating time. Layla, assigned to write the history of Macedonia, arrives alone and quite penniless, but well dressed. At the train station she meets Bird, one of the young girls in this story, come to accompany Layla to her mother's boarding house. Willa, Bird’s sister, had fallen and was left behind and so missed this auspicious occasion to a home filled with secrets and eccentricities while displaying southern gentility.

The story unfolds as Layla learns how to be independent while learning the history of the town. Layla’s privilege and protected life is juxtaposed with the economically deprived lives of the residents of Macedonia. Which version of the history of the town is accurate?  That of the mayor wanting to bestow prestige and glory upon this tiny town? Or the story of the Romeyn Family? Which version is more principled?

Willa Romeyn, twelve years old narrated much of this story with the wit and honesty of a child, reminiscent of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. She sees Layla as an interloper and threat who really doesn’t know much and who likes her father Felix. She describes her aunts, Jottie and the twins Mae and Minerva. Jottie is raising Willa and Bird while Felix is conducting 'his business'. Mae and Minerva have their own eccentricities. Willa’s main concern is tracking down her father’s business. 

The Truth According to us is an easily read story taking the reader into the complexities of small town history and fading class divisions.

“I’ve learned that history is the autobiography of the historian, 

that ignoring the past is the act of a fool, and 

that loyalty does notmean falling into line, 

but stepping out of it for the people you love.”

~ Annie Barrows, the Truth According to us.

Title:  the Truth According to us

Author:  Annie Barrows

Publisher: The Dial Press

Publication Date: 2016

Format:  Soft Cover

ISBN: 978-0-385-34295-7  (pbk;acid free paper)

ISBN: 978-0-8129-9784-2  (e-book)

Type:  Fiction