Whatever He Says

I have been sorting through more "stuff" in the loft room this week. I spent months marooned up there for long evenings last winter, tidying it up. How could there still be so much excess paper?  But there is. So I am in Phase 2 of The Cull; I was too gentle the first time. But amid the trash, I find treasure. I found a bulletin from the funeral of a work colleague who died in 1997. On the back was a little poem that I love, written by Stan H. Smith. Stan was the executive director of an agency called New Leaf--Living and Learning Together. He died a few years ago. I wanted to share the poem here, but I didn't know the context in which I would share it. Tonight as I was driving, listening to the radio, I got the answer. The CBC radio program Revision Quest was playing. (You can listen to the show as a podcast by going to  CBC Radio  .) The show was about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission  ...

By Belinda They sat on our deck in the hot summer evening, sun drenched skin and hair signs of school let out. Freedom! They chatted with their granddad out there for a long while, then came inside where I sat, tapping away on my laptop. "I've been reading a great book," I said, "Do you want to read it together?" "Sure!" they said and the laptop was set aside. One on either side we sat on the couch and I began to read from Jean Little's   Hey World, Here I Am! The book is one that I bought to give as a gift but have not been able to part with until I have read it all! Although it is a children's book, I am loving it. Torie and I, alternated reading the poems and prose out loud. We all laughed; related to and discussed the thoughts expressed. "Are you liking this or am I forcing you to sit on the couch?" I asked, suddenly worried that they might want to leave but be too polite to say. "No, this is fantastic," ...

By Belinda Susan left this comment yesterday on my post about Sunday: "...Sounds blissful. One day I'll describe one of our Sunday get-togethers... on second thought, naw, this blog is supposed to be inspiring!" Well, I confess that I didn't tell the whole story. It was around 5.00 o'clock in the afternoon when the roast pork, vegetables and strawberry rhubarb pie wore off for our daughter-in-law Sue and she began a search for food. Junk food. We don't have junk food. This has something to do with being food junkies. We do have a snack cupboard but it is filled with things like wholewheat crackers, almonds, trail mix, dried apricots, high fibre cookies and ladyfingers. This was not what Sue was looking for. We used to have containers full of miniature candy bars "for the grandchildren," but it was "the grandparents" who ate most of them. There is no justice. We semi-recovering foodaholics with the healthy snack cupboard have...

By Belinda The day dawns hot. A steamy Sunday. It is a Family Dlnner Day and before leaving for church I put the finishing touches to a meal that will be waiting for us afterwards--roast pork with apple sauce, mashed potatoes and a host of other vegetables. Early I pull the blinds down on the windows to help  keep the house cool. The rooms are shady against the outside blaze of heat. I arrive back before the crowd arrives and start the vegetables that still need cooking. Soon the kitchen is buzzing with microwave beeps and timers chiming.  Getting multiple dishes to the table simultaneously, is an art that  always reminds me of conducting an orchestra. Everything landing on the table at the right temperature simultaneously, is like the crescendo of the piece of music. It doesn't always happen that way, but when it does, it feels like a beautiful thing . " :) Around the table the happy chaos of  chairs shuffling in. There is a straggler in t...

By Belinda I am tired--no, really, I am tired. And I am tired of being tired. I have a sense of urgency to "get on with" several things, including making a doctor's appointment to deal with a problem of sleepiness that has plagued me for a long time. I think it's part of entering a new decade and thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my life. Not tired, that's for sure. When I was in my 20's and 30's I earned my tiredness. I was exhausted a lot of the time but it wasn't hard to see why. Like many other young people juggling work, family and volunteer responsibilities, I worked very hard and for long hours. There was little down time and when I did sit down, I fell asleep. I fell asleep in church (quite a feat under my father-in-law's fiery sermons;) I fell asleep when our children rehearsed school presentations, and whenever I sat down with a good book. I zoned out and fell asleep when listening to a conversation partner who talked...

By Belinda Dear Readers, My weekend post is coming. It will arrive tomorrow. The subject? Procrastination! Yes, really. :)

Fridays with Susan... Uh oh.  I just checked Whatever He Says to see what Belinda had written for today and realized - it was supposed to be me!  With Thursday being a holiday and all, I was thrown off my usual routine and entirely forgot that it was my day to post today.  And I only have 10 minutes before I need to leave for work... Yesterday was a wonderfully "family" day.  Heather and Andrew came over to help cull the clutter that has overtaken our lives and filled our home.  I have done a really good job of acquiring "stuff", but not such a good job of taking care of it!  Old dogs can learn new tricks - I've cut way back on my acquisitions and have exponentially increased my pitching of things that I don't want, don't need, and/or don't have room for.  As a result, we are finding enough room in our house for an upstairs apartment for Andrew and Heather and Sweet William to move into sometime in mid summer.  There's a lot of work to do...