Soon, I’ll be moving my newsletter to a new platform – Substack. Nothing will change for you, except the layout will look a little different. Substack encourages writers to give their newsletter a title. I’ve picked “Creative Compost,” which sort of sums up my topics – a bit of this and that. Back in 2019, …
A lot of far-out and groovy events took place in the 1960s when I was a girl growing up in southern Alberta. On the music scene, the British Invasion hit North America with bands like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Troggs, Herman’s Hermits, and, of course, the Beatles. I played my 33 vinyl discs …
Bungee jumping was a craze back in the early 90s. I didn’t get it. You head off to some light industrial site to be fitted with a body harness resembling a huge rubber band. Then, they stuff you in a window cleaner cage, the office tower type. A crane lifts you 150 feet off the …
I’m not sure when it started. Probably when I was a girl. Back then, parents didn’t watch children as closely as they do today, and I had more freedom than most. Maybe too much freedom, but that’s a different topic. In the spring of 2024, I took my most recent nighttime dip in the ocean. …
I painted this picture almost 35 years ago, in 1990 (acrylic on masonite), while living a former life under a different name. It’s quite large — 24” by 36”. I didn’t have enough wall space to hang it. My son, Lochlin, is obsessed with music and all things musical, so I gifted the painting to …
Giving Thanks for a Still Life Ten bits of truth for my grandchildren, with hope they’ll give them some thought. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff. This is my pet cliche. Don’t get sucked into radical and blinkered views of the world. Be bold. Be yourself. And remember — a scrap …
Fuzzy-deep thoughts from the middle of the night hover on the fringe of my memory. I’m sure this has happened to you: you wake up, go over the previous day’s obsessions, you try to recapture the gist of your dreams. Yesterday I was reading a book on wildfires. A few years ago, the Fort McMurray …
Clean out a corner of your mind, and creativity will instantly fill it. – Dee Hock Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? – Mary Oliver
About fifteen years ago, we came home to an unusual sight. In the previous weeks, crows had built a nest in the holly tree just outside the window of our 3rd floor apartment. It tickled me at the time. Thought it would be amazing to watch up close as they finished the nest, laid eggs, …