The Pits and Pieces

  I have been watching the Netflix documentary series “Our Great National Parks” hosted and narrated by Barack Obama. There are five episodes and so far I’ve watched three, which include inaccessible ‘stone’ forests in Madagascar, rain forests, the Great Barrier Reef, the Patagonian national park in Chile and Tsavo park in Kenya. Pic from the documentary Apart from the outstanding beauty of these natural spaces and the efforts to maintain them, there is of course the soothing quality of Obama’s baritone voice. His voice inspires trust and confidence. We want to listen to what he has to say. We believe him. We want to do better for our planet, which, of course, is the whole point of this documentary series. He tells us of the great importance of preserving our rain forests, because – a quarter of all our medicines originated in rain forests. And the secrets to a cure for cancer could lie here, in the depths of these forests; in the sloth who takes a month to digest a leaf and so t...

  This line from Transaction With Beauty’s blog post has stayed with me: “ we’re not helping anyone by ceasing to create beauty.” And along with that line, I’ve been thinking about something I read somewhere, about spending one’s time ‘creating’ versus ‘recreating’ i.e. simply passing time with entertaining ourselves. The famous quote from Annie Dillard is: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” I spend my fair share of time ‘recreating’, on the couch, watching Netflix. And sometimes, that is just what the body and mind needs, an escape, a time-out, a quiet period of recuperation, especially in the last three weeks with my lingering Covid effects of fatigue, coughing and odd head sensations. But I know that I’m much happier and more fulfilled when I spend my time creating – painting, writing, blogging, trying to form sentences in Spanish, attempting to craft poetry.  Creating can take many forms, but the important thing is – the outcome doesn’t matter. ...

  I never thought I wanted a suburban life and yet, here I am, some 37 years later living exactly that. My ideal dwelling would be a home with city out the front door and country out the back. I love walking in nature and Oakville (where I live, about 40 km. west of Toronto) does a good job with its trail system, paths always within a few minutes’ walk in each neighbourhood. Forest bathing is popular these days for good reason, but the healing properties of being amidst trees is something that has been known for generations in various cultures. Suburban sprawl comes at a cost – woodland and farmland disappearing to make way for residential cul-de-sacs. Across the main street north of me, thickets of trees and tracts of farmland are now being bull-dozed and turned into sub-divisions, displacing any wild life there. I’ve seen foxes walking down sidewalks and coy-wolfs on the trails in broad daylight. Where do they go once their homes have been razed to the ground? The other nig...

  It’s been a low energy week for me, home with COVID. One day with energy to bake muffins, the next day spent entirely on the couch reading, although still well enough to sit at my home desk for my three weekly work days. A short walk that would normally leave me feeling energized, left me fatigued instead.  I’ve been one of those very cautious people over the past two years, masking indoors even when mandatory masking was lifted. Maybe some thought I was being too cautious, but, as I suspected, I was susceptible to picking it up. And I did, after one outing where I let my guard down. Thankfully, my symptoms have been fairly mild (although the low level fatigue continues) and I know it could have been a lot worse had I not been vaxxed and boosted.  I will continue my cautious ways. As our medical experts keep reminding us: learning to live with COVID doesn’t mean it’s no longer among us.                     ...

  'In a gentle way, you can shake the world.' Mahatma Gandhi I’ve known for quite some time that I’m an introvert. The definition, as you know, of introverts vs. extroverts is that introverts need quiet, alone time to re-charge, while extroverts get inspiration and energy from being with others. Of course, everyone is on varying degrees of that spectrum. Many introverts are labelled shy, as was I as a child. (I really hated being slapped with labels; the two that clung to me were: shy and stubborn, the latter being accurate). While I may be introverted and reserved, I’m not shy. I read the book – Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking – a while back, and although I don’t remember many details, I do know that while reading it, much of it resonated with me. I felt my personality type was understood. Last weekend I went to a milestone anniversary party for a childhood friend, hosted by her three adult sons and their partners.   I’ve known the coup...