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Honk honk caw caw!
The Canada geese are back home, and I have now seen five crows, although I cannot confirm that they were different crows each time. Last year a crow built a nest in one of the elm trees outside our condo. The nest does not appear weather-degraded and would perhaps make a turnkey residence for one…
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Good to see you, Mr. Groundhog
At one time I considered January to be the longest, coldest, and darkest month of the year. It lasted much too long. But these days it seems no different than any other month of the year. Turn around and it is over. And suddenly it is time to check in with our local groundhog. END…
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Cards, clocks and Christmas
MAKING A LIST People love lists. Twenty things never to wear if you are over fifty. Fifteen presents to buy for the grinch in your life. Ten actors who haven’t acted since 2000. Curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on Seven Ways to Reduce Christmas Stress. Not that the season registers anywhere…
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My Story is Not Your Story (and yours is not mine)
This was written several months ago. If you have not heard from me, this explains why. If you have heard too much from me, this also explains why. I have passed the one year mark now and the shadow recedes. My button-down top was inside out. I stood outside on a city sidewalk, and…
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Lilacs and cow slips and memories
I know at least one person who dislikes the scent of lilacs and, if there is one, there must be others. But for me, the fragrance is one of the loveliest I know. It reminds me of our yard growing up and also of the yards where both sets of grandparents lived. Lilacs were a…
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Onwards
GARBAGE BAGS You might wonder why I include a photo of a garbage bag in an end of year/post-Christmas blog. You might think it is a comment on the waste that accompanies the holidays. Which is true enough… how many households are throwing out garbage bags full of shiny paper that cannot be recycled? But…
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BOOKS, ART AND A SONG
MY BEST TO YOU A recent visit to a thrift store resulted in this find: sheet music for the 1942 song “My Best to You.” In the small rural community where I lived for most of my life, this song was a constant at every community bridal shower. After the gifts had been opened and…
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Little things
Often when we sit outside, we look up to the sound of an airplane flying overhead. It seems we are on the flight path for passengers travelling east. A month ago, I flew to Ontario to visit a friend I had not seen for 20 years. Flying over the city, I recognized a landmark not…
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Critters and clocks and the time between
K and I took a road trip in order to attend a conference in Banff – the organization’s first in-person conference since the Covid daze. We drove through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, then returned through Montana and North Dakota. The weather co-operated and the smoke from wildfires in northern Alberta stayed away. Other than a…
Rural Routes, Blog Version
Looking at the world with country eyes
Rural Routes, Blog Version 