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Bursting My Own Bubble
Over the holiday I inadvertently upset my sister. It was a misunderstanding, but I hurt her feelings. When I realized what I had done I felt awful. In fact, I lost sleep over it and made a point of...
View ArticleThe Looking-glass Self
As in my previous blog post, I am rethinking my appearance which has devolved during nearly three months of being housebound. A bad fall has resulted in my spending most of my time lately in hospitals...
View ArticleAt the Post Office, Remembering Mum
My mum was really great as a homemaker and as a post office clerk. I wish she was still here to take over from the woman at my local Canada Post office. She would have dealt with the needs of the young...
View ArticleLet Me Walk You Out
After you have visited a friend and the evening is over, it’s a lovely friendly gesture if your host waves goodbye at the doorstep or walks you out to your car. It says “I know you have to go, but I...
View ArticleThe Presumption of Innocence Can Cause the Innocent to Suffer
The problem with “He said, she said” is that it isn’t fair. In our criminal justice system, we always have the presumption of innocence. That’s fine and good, but when there are no witnesses and there...
View ArticleThank You, Nancy Miller (Part 1 of 3)
The other night, just as I was falling asleep, I found myself remembering the woman who came to my aid in 1972. I was standing at the side of a road with my suitcase and my mother’s sewing machine,...
View ArticleThank You, Nancy Miller (Part 2 of 3)
[This is a continuation of the story I began telling in a previous blog post.] After visiting with my family in the London area, I applied and was accepted into the college that had been recommended to...
View ArticleThank You, Nancy Miller (Part 3 of 3)
[The following is the third part of a story I began here and continued here.] In 1971, after I had left my marriage and moved in with a college friend, Nancy Miller, one of the things I had to resolve...
View ArticleA Little Appreciation Goes A Long Way
When I was at the mall the other day, wandering about looking at blouses and sweaters, a woman standing nearby took a white embroidered top off the rack and we both looked at it. I said how pretty it...
View ArticleWhen Someone Cons You, You Hate Yourself, Not Them.
I have been conned more than once, and each time I blamed myself. I kicked myself. I felt guilty. I found it very, very hard to talk about because it is embarrassing to have been conned. I know I’m not...
View ArticleA Story That Will Never Get Old
Yesterday, I fell in love with a musical. It’s not the first time I’ve fallen in love with a musical, but it is the most recent. Before this, it was Hamilton, and that is still an absolute favorite....
View ArticleDoing a Google-inspired Happy Dance
I am SO happy! I just got an email from a friend I haven’t seen or heard from since the 1970s. We were students together at Bretton Hall College back in the day when we wore bell-bottomed jeans. Isn’t...
View ArticleTimes Have Really Changed
I have a friend in her late thirties who has many friends in the same age group. They are single and looking for life partners but finding that the dating world is not as rewarding as they would like...
View ArticlePlease Make A Decision For Me
When I started this blog I had the idea that I wanted to write a book but needed to start with smaller writing projects. Snowbird of Paradise has been a good place for me to gain some writing practice,...
View ArticleA Great View, A Great Man, & An Angry Flower
What is the connection between a former Premier of Alberta and Bob the Angry Flower? Answer: Grant Notley. On Tuesday I visited Grant Notley Park and, after a little bit of Googling, discovered an...
View ArticleOpen Letter to My Dentist’s Assistant
I’m sorry that I was resistant to your request for information this morning. It came as a surprise that you would call in response to my feedback on your clinic’s email questionnaire. I was suddenly...
View ArticleLoving Yourself Takes Time
Yesterday, I saw a writing prompt from Bubble Bath Self-Empowerment that got me thinking. In fact, it prompted me to write, so it worked! The prompt was: When You Love Yourself First, Everything Else...
View ArticleCourtyard Flora in December
Every year, when I come to San Jose, I am delighted to see flowers. It amuses my sister to see me taking pictures of what seem to her to be unexceptional blooms, but when you come from a snowscape,...
View ArticleTwitter: It’s A Love/Hate Thing.
I have been an avid user of Twitter for a couple of years. You might say I’ve been enamored or addicted. Today, though, I decided our love affair is over. It’s been good, Twitter, but you became...
View ArticleTo See Ourselves As Others See Us
Until today, my major concern in relation to Coronavirus was to avoid contact with other people. I did not want to bring the virus home and I did not want to carry it to the people I love and live...
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