Category: Rites of Passage
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Sun trap!
So we sat outside for a little while in the late afternoon sunshine, thinking about old times actually. I’d already channeled my inner photographer, looking for angles and light, so I’d kind of pre-supposed the joy already. But it was a solace to sit quietly and think together. Is this situation the right way forward?…
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Neither pink, pine, nor apples . . .
Okay, there’s a tinge of pink, for sure, but these otherwise misnamed fingerlings are the third successful crop we’ve begun to enjoy as summer moves along. The Alouettes, definitely pink-skinned, have been a disappointment, but the Charlottes and Harmonies are already very satisfying. The yellow flesh and nutty taste of the Pink Fir Apples make…
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The joy of ceremony
Over the past fortnight, I’ve had occasion to experience two of the great ceremonies of life, one in person, the other vicariously. Both occasions elicited tears from celebrants and participants alike. There’s something about ceremony that draws us together, connects us, leaves us staggered with the realisation that we are irreducibly social creatures. And yet,…
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From lake to loch . . .
A week ago I stood on the shore of Lake Ahmic in northern Ontario (the near north, as my father liked to say, south of North Bay on Lake Nipissing, north of Barrie), and said goodbye to the loons, a perennial favourite of my mother. A couple of days ago we sat on a strategic…
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A life devoted to loving service
After a cheerful day with family at the end of June, our mother died quite suddenly yesterday morning. She had been in progressive decline for the past decade; the end is still so sad to bear. This blog will be in hiatus for a while. Thank you for your kind understanding.
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Spring garden blossom
It’s no longer spring, and the garden is really a series of plants in pots on the gravel and deck, here at Spring Cottage, but the blossoms greeting us on our arrival were fulsome and real. We tied up the drooping Scottish thistle, falling from its own magnificence, and positioned the ruby snapdragons tighter against…
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Our first salad from our downsized delight . . .
They say you need to pick the baby leaves of the mixed salad crop so as to enjoy their special piquant flavour and delicacy, and so that’s what we did last evening just before dinner. Very tasty with slices of cherry tomatoes and avocado in a simple olive oil and white balsamic vinegar dressing. Delish!…
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Life’s resets . . .
As I neared sleep, after a lovely day, I had an idea for a ‘joy’ entry that I had to email myself about in case I forgot. This morning I was glad I’d had the presentiment to make a note. I was thinking about the resets we may undergo in life. How many do we…
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A tiny forest for a tiny garden
Although a large garden is full of delights, it’s also a lot of work. You notice that kind of thing when you get older. And you wonder, can we ever keep this up? Eventually, perhaps, the answer is no, we can’t. So downsizing from our smallholding in Sparty Lea seems like a compelling option as…
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The tyranny of history?
We ambled along the same routes that Robert Burns would have taken two hundred and fifty years ago, as we twirled around the town of Dumfries yesterday on our busman’s holiday*. We visited the imposing mausoleum erected some thirty years after his death, that replaced the original simple stone slab marking his burial site. We…
Roads to Joy 