🎶(Staying) Home for the Holidays!🎶😷

I didn’t feel like decorating for Christmas this year. Usually, I’m gung-ho about it and have our home festive by early December to fully enjoy the season. But this year it just seemed like too much effort. Too much hassle for no visitors to enjoy. The premier of Ontario told us to stick to our…

For You, Dad!

I’ve lived in my home for over twenty years but rarely spotted a cardinal in our yard. Things changed nearly four years ago . . . after Dad passed away. The day after Dad’s death, I could hear the sweet chirping of a bird as I mowed the backyard. It was louder than the noise…

Thousand Word Thursdays #184

At the beginning of the pandemic, I did a lot of bird watching in my backyard. Especially searching for cardinals. I was curious why this particular cardinal was spending so much time in my neighbour’s eavestrough. A feast of bugs? Then, I figured it out! He was taking a bath! © Rita Jacques 2020. Windsor,…

Learning to Stop!

When I first began to rollerblade around the age of fifty, I had no fear. I loved to skate fast and feel a breeze around me. A couple of weeks after I acquired my new skates, I accompanied my hubby on his business trip to Chicago. Chicago boasts incredibly scenic lakefront trails. I set forth,…

Sanity Saved by Irises!

While photographing the irises in my garden, I often thought of van Gogh. The great artist painted flowers—including irises—while in isolation at a monastery/asylum. He referred to painting as the lightning rod for his illness. And, likewise, photography and gardening have kept me grounded during this pandemic. Have you found your own lightning rod? Let…

On Turning Sixty!

Today is the last day I’ll spend in my fifties. It’s been an excellent decade. I crammed so much living into the last ten years that my head’s still spinning. Disaster-relief nursing, volunteering at a homeless shelter, the marriage of one daughter, and becoming a grandmother. Plus working as a nurse until my recent retirement…