Whatever He Says

Our daughter-in-law Sue, and Paul, are kindred spirits in that they are both undeterred by things that others might deem impossible, and set out to do them by sheer force of will.  Sue was helping us get our house ready for listing by painting the outside of the extension at the back. T he day that she and Paul built the heavy rented scaffolding to the height needed to reach the peak at the edge of the roof of our house, and Sue had to stand on the scaffolding and reach up with her brush and roller was scary.  Even she admitted to nervousness and sat on the edge of the scaffolding, dangling her legs while looking down, like an Olympic diver psyching herself up on a diving board.  "Don't worry, I have four children," was the most encouraging thing she had to say. Paul had  tied down the scaffolding on either side,  bought her a harness, and attached a rope to the harness. He then tied the rope around his waist. I could only think of how we can't even stan...

To say that we've been busy is an understatement; busy in all sorts of ways.  Busy emotionally Busy physically Busy spiritually Sometime in the spring we seriously began to face the fact that just two people living  in our beautiful big house, was hard to rationalize. And as the grass began to grow, as it does in spring, while Paul was also busy at work, the rolling acre of it, dotted by a fruit orchard and many trees, plus gracefully curvaceous perennial flower beds, felt overwhelming.  The rainy weather just egged on the grass, and keeping on top of the luscious, verdant, carpet of green began to feel like a weekly race, with Paul losing.  We've been going through a process of letting go; reluctantly facing reality. We are getting older; it's not going to get any easier. We've gone through all 5 stages of loss and grief ! I say that tongue in cheek of course, but the stages are similar you know: denial (we can stay here forever, there is no place we c...

Two books are currently having the impact of booster  rocket s in my life. Wikipedia  defines a booster rocket as: " a strap-on rocket used to augment the core launch vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability. Boosters are generally necessary to launch  spacecraft  into Earth's orbit or beyond." A great description of the impact of these books on me. Theologian and writer, Dallas Willard died in 2013. Ever  since reading an article about him by John Ortberg, written after his death and published in Christianity Today, I have wanted to read his books. You can read the article for yourself  here. In Willard's book,  The Spirit of the Disciplines , he opens up the difference between trying to follow Christ by responding to life's circumstances in a "godly way," and actually becoming godly in character by following Christ's pattern of life--the spiritual disciplines he practiced. Willard the describes those disciplines and how their ...

By Belinda It's Friday--my favourite evening of the week. I got home from work and Paul had a movie waiting! We watched  Oorlogswinter  (Winter in Wartime,) a Dutch film with English subtitles. I had really wanted to see it when it was in the theatres but missed it. It was a lovely surprise to find that Paul had rented it. The movie did an excellent job of portraying the complexities of relationships within a family and a community in wartime Holland and the young star Martijn Lakemeier, gave a compelling performance. After the movie it was time to take Molson for a walk; we both needed to stretch our legs. As I bent down to tie my shoe laces, I tried to avoid Molson's wet kisses of gratitude. Then we were off into the warm summer evening. I had ear buds in, listening to a book on CD as we walked down our street. But hearing a plaintive wail, I took them out to listen. Bagpipes! At the next but one house to ours, someone was practising the bagpipes in the gar...

By Belinda We were in for the night. It was Friday and we landed happily on the shores of the weekend. Friday evenings always feel like the start of something good. Relaxation seeped into body and soul as I heated our supper in the microwave--lasagne left over from cell group the night before--no work at all. "I got some movies," called Paul from the den. "Perfect!" I shouted back above the whir of the microwave. We settled down in from of the tv with our suppers on trays and watched Letters to Juliet  with the beautiful Lynn Redgrave. It was the perfect Friday night movie--so romantic! Brenda was out so we brought Molson upstairs, and he curled up between us, content to be with part of his "pack." When the movie ended at about 9.00, though, he was unusually restless. We'd all had a busy day and he hadn't had a walk, but now we took pity on him. We had bought reflective vests for walking at night a while ago, but hadn't tried them ...

By Belinda I knew on Friday night at the Studio Tour, that I would go back some time this weekend, and so, on Sunday afternoon after church, I stopped at the bank for some cash, and went back to the Bond Head Community Hall, where I was recognized at every table as the lady who had been there on Friday night with Molson. Eyes softened and brightened at the memory of his friendly visit and gentle inquiries were made as to how he was. But Christmas shopping was on my mind on this occasion, and I spent a happy and unhurried hour, browsing the tables and chatting with the gifted artisans. This is George A. Burt of Bond Head. His work is on display in the National Gallery in Ottawa, right next to Group of Seven paintings. Each piece is uniquely crafted into a work of art and George burns his name and address on the bottom on each one with a wood burning tool, letter by letter. His work was in demand all over the world a few years ago when it became known ...

By Belinda You can never know what adventures await in the village of Bond Head! Yesterday evening, Molson and I set out for our walk, and we were on our way home when I noticed a sign outside a garage with a group of people inside, that said, Studio Tour. I was curious, but carried on down the road, too shy to walk up the driveway and see what was going on. There's nothing wrong with being shy, except when you let it control you, so I went back. And I'm so glad I did. Inside were two people I had met before while out on a walk, Ana Calusic and Martin Grossi; and two of their friends. And Ana and Martin's "children" Bacchi and Mocha, were there, the tiniest and most adorable little dogs. Molson did not quite know what to make of these little friends. Bacchi and Mocha scampered around Molson with high energy, while he stood by calmly. They let him have a drink out of their water bowl, which was, for him like having a...

By Belinda After yesterday's post, about our village, a reader, Theresa made me laugh. She said, in a comment about her town, "our post office lady is something like the Soup Nazi off Seinfeld, but with mail!!" That got me thinking of the unique and powerful position the "post office lady" or, if you live in England, the "postmistress," has in a village. Of course there are postmasters too, but I think they are outnumbered. For the first 20 of our 22 years in Bond Head, I cannot remember any other  post office lady in Bond Head but Judy. The post office then was in the tiny modified garage that adjoined her neat bungalow. A fairly steep driveway led to its door. I found out just how steep one day when I drove my standard shift car up the little hill and got out, realizing too late and to my horror,  that I had left the car in neutral and forgotten to apply the handbrake on the hill. It began rolling away as I stepped out and in vain I tried to ...

By Belinda I drive back to Bond Head after work, at the end of a long but good day, giving thanks that I get to call this place "home." Ontario is steamy and hot as a tropical jungle--they say the heatwave will break by the weekend. I stop by the postoffice. It's after closing and I let myself in with my key. The vestibule is hung with paintings by the Bond Head Fine Arts Group. They are for sale, but each evening I pause in the empty room and admire them before unlocking my mail box. It's like a little gallery in there, with new additions every few days, and "sold" signs going up on some of them quickly. Near the door  Laurie's Adirondack chair and folding table are stacked. Between serving customers and filling mail boxes she sits out in the sun and reads. She knows more about local history and local current gossip than anyone else and is always ready to engage a body in conversation. When she got pregnant last year; ten years after her last chil...

By Belinda Our house has been in a hustle-bustle for the past week, rapidly approaching a crescendo of activity as this weekend draws closer. Paul is leaving tomorrow morning for a three week trip  to Mishkeegogamang, a First Nations reserve about a 1000 kilometers north. He has been trying to take care of all of the things he would normally do at home in the next three weeks. Brenda and the girls are packing for a trip to the cottage this weekend. But first they are going to their dad's overnight, and then they are going away to Circle Square Ranch for a week next weekend. Downstairs the washing machine and permanent markers are busy. I'm not going anywhere! Molson and I,with two cockatiels and a chinchilla, will be at home. The vacuum was whining downstairs tonight like a dentist's drill. I opened the door to the apartment down there and Molson, from his comfortable place on the couch, spotted me at once. I flung words in his direction over the ...