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Writer, Mixed Media Artist, Contemplative Musician
I've never had the nose to pick the separate aromas in a bouquet of wineit is a talent few possess rarely have I been able to sniff cologne which doesnβt then make me break out with sneezing and runny eyes I do enjoy being able to smell. What I remember is in no particular order, importance orcategory: cut... Continue Reading →
Today I was rereading and putting away the Christmas cards that I received this season. My mind immediately turns to childhood, scissors and paper cutting which I loved to do. Growing up in a Christian βmission-mindedβ household we were encouraged to never waste anything. This included harvesting the prettiest pictures from our old Christmas cards... Continue Reading →
Evans Store on Hansson Ave, at the corner of Anna, was a fixture to every kid in South Beach, Gimli. Forever. Evans Store Building in 2017. Put out to pasture behind 15 Hansson Avenue, Gimli. My first memory of spending money was at Evans Store. My grandpa PercyΒ would give me a nickel or dime and... Continue Reading →
A year ago I drew this labyrinth in the sand on my favourite beach. DraggingΒ my fingersΒ in the barely-warm April sand felt wonderful after having spent three days in a nursing home. My mother was struggling so overwhelmingly. The only thing I really knew how to do was play the piano for her and sing the... Continue Reading →
One of the most powerful moments of my mother's committal serviceΒ was seeing my brotherΒ and sister-in-lawΒ placing her ashes into the ground. They knelt down on the grass beside the small hole. Gently herΒ arm went all the way to the bottom of the soil floor, over a metre down, like a final caress. Families who are not... Continue Reading →
"Say 'goodbye' to Patriarchy," said my husband as he passed me the captain's chair. 1977, a very special wedding gift from my parents. A suitably expensive Roxton maple dining room set; 4 chairs and a table. We have gathered around that table for the last 39 years. Β We still love the table. Β Whoever designed the... Continue Reading →
One of my favourite pictures, circa 1963, is this one of me and my Mum in front of the Christmas tree. It's badly taken, that's for sure. Probably from my Grampa Percy's camera. I noticed that my Grandmother Winifred appears reflected in the living room window of my childhood home. Kind of spooky, considering my... Continue Reading →
August 30, 2013 My BFF from childhood, her mother died yesterday. The house where I grew up on a quiet suburb of Winnipeg was surrounded by Borodys. Literally. On the south side was by best friend Carol-Ann and her mum, dad, brothers and dog, Binks. On the north side of our house was her grandparents,... Continue Reading →
When I was a kid I loved when my mother had to take fancy sandwiches to the church for some function or another, mostly funerals. First, days in advance, she had to special order the bread, an LARGE unsliced loaf. Then have them put it through the mechanical slicer sideways. Β Then she cut off all... Continue Reading →
It started with this.I uncovered this painting my daughter did in Grade Two. I guess it was after we had gone on an airplane ride, her first. I admit that I have trouble throwing some things away. I figured I could use the old schoolwork in a piece of art. So I cut it up.... Continue Reading →
My Dad represented the joy of Christmas for me. And even though heβs dead now, he still does. From him I learned the immense joy of the Feast of Christmas. When he left home in 1942 and βimmigratedβ to Winnipeg he carried on the Ward tradition and prepared his own little feast, within the Feast,... Continue Reading →
Today I am reminiscing about my dear Aunt Sylva mostly because itβs Christmastime and her name sounded like it. She loved to entertain at Christmas. She was born Sylva Belle Carter in Winnipeg in 1926. (Belle was after her grandmother, Belle Stewart). She was my motherβs only sibling. She trained as a nurse. She chose... Continue Reading →
When I became a βgrandPAWrentβ for the first time last year it was amazing. Our daughter and her husband adopted a Brittany from a rescue society in Michigan.
β I want to remind myself and others that our homes can become sacred places, filled with life and meaning.Β We do not need cathedrals to remind ourselves to experience the sacred.βΒ -Gunilla Norris We all have an invisible space around us. A field of energy which surrounds us and moves with us everywhere. Suppose your... Continue Reading →
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