Happy eve of New Year’s Eve! Everywhere I tune in these days I hear people talking about what a terrible year 2016 has been and good riddance to it. I don’t feel that way at all. For me 2016 has been a wonderful year. Hubby and I are still living together in peace, we visited… Continue reading 7
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve just finished reading Anna Karenina—that 140-year-old tome by Leo Tolstoy. I read it on the recommendation of another old book—If You Want to Write (first published in 1938) by Barbara Ueland. (By the way, Ueland’s book is one of the most inspirational books… Continue reading Anna Karenina (review)
Though I haven’t joined in on Poetry Friday for a couple of weeks, I’ve enjoyed reading the #haikuforhealing (Mary Lee Hahn’s idea) that keep popping up in my Twitter feed and various blogs this December. Today I’m bringing my little haiku side-dish to the potluck. Christmas Snapshots #haikuforhealing Road choked with cars. She signals merge—let… Continue reading Christmas Snapshots #haikuforhealing
The climax of the Christmas season will soon be here. This year a book that has directed my Advent focus is Light Upon Light: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany (compiled by Sarah Arthur). One of the readings for the first week of Advent (“Incarnation” by Amit Majmudar) especially captured my… Continue reading Incarnation
Yesterday I had a medical procedure which needed an intravenous line to insert contrast dye. My experience at the medical centre was unusually drawn-out as apparently I have what they call “rolly veins” (which have the good sense to slip away from needles). The workers were wonderful, though. And in the hour it took to… Continue reading Technician
Thank you to Irene Latham for rallying us to revive our Spiritual Journey Thursday meme, at least this once. We’re invited to reflect on our One Little Word choices for 2017. My 2017 word was / is MINDFULNESS. I am aware that there are psychological and, in some faiths, religious overlays to the word which… Continue reading Mindfulness at Christmas
YesterCanada: Historical Tales of Mystery and Adventure by Elma Schemenauer My rating: 4 of 5 stars In YesterCanada Elma Schemenauer tells thirty historical tales of Canada. Using her considerable story telling skill she puts us right into the various Canadian settings these stories inhabit, from the grassy fragrance of the Saskatchewan prairie, to the bone… Continue reading YesterCanada (review)
Today I’m recommending my friend Laurel’s blog for your Advent reading. When her two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder could no longer tolerate the upheaval of Christmas, she knew she would have to find a different way than with decorations, visiting, lavish gifts and meals to celebrate. She tells her story on this video. https://vimeo.com/147060464… Continue reading Journey through Advent
Though we’re just starting December the First Sunday of Advent is already past and Christmas is in the air. Sarah Arthur’s Light upon Light (a book of readings for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany) recalled the beautiful song “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” I first heard “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” sung by the Amadeus Children's… Continue reading “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”
Happy Thanksgiving to our American neighbors! In my search for a poem of gratitude today, I came across “To Skin” (which I wrote some years ago but don’t believe I ever made public—at least not here). It reminds us of one thing we have to be grateful for which, though all around us, is easy… Continue reading To Skin
Violet Nesdoly 