Was I lost? Not really, but at times it felt as if I might be. It reminded me of how I loved it when I was lost, when my friend Cynthia and I were hiking on unofficial trails following old maps and the trails would simply disappear without any warning. We found we loved orienteering […]
Mary Oliver’s poem Mindful,begins with these lines Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, I felt that way today – killed with delight– walking with Callum along Chelsea Creek in minus 20C: crisp air on my cheeks, brilliant sunshine, blue sky, fresh snow on the hillside and, […]
Snow was falling, so much like stars filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more…. than prettiness. Mary Oliver’s words were just so perfect for me as I skied along Ridge Road to Keogan’s Lodge in the falling snow: in addition to the thrill of working my […]
Since Mary Oliver’s death earlier this week I’ve been taking time before my day starts to sit by the fire with my coffee (and dear Callum curled up beside me on the loveseat) to read through her books of poetry. What’s happening is that I’m finding her words wandering around with me while I’m outdoors. […]
“and you too have come into the world to do this – to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” How saddened I was yesterday when I heard that Mary Oliver had died. While I love other poets, such as John O’Donohue and Wendell Berry, I feel such a strong attachment to […]
My recent outings in the Gats have been on dull days resulting in the landscape appearing quite flat. As I ski or hike along my eye pauses on what otherwise I might not notice – simple subjects – and I find myself appreciating the simplicity of winter scenes with the white background grandstanding the beauty […]
New Year’s Day finds me setting out for an early morning ski creating tracks in freshly fallen snow. How fitting I thought, for embarking on the beginning of a new year. If only it were that simple – a fresh clean slate with no remnants from the past ready for our clean tracks as if in […]
It’s a busy time of year for all of us and it’s a challenge for me to remain grounded in what really matters: I can so easily be sucked into the vortex of ‘The List’. Yes, ‘The List’: a bunch of things that I impose on myself , which surprisingly to me, no one else […]
The first ski of the season brings a couple of traditions for me – a photo of my skis in the tracks and a photo of this meandering creek. I’m the kind of person that leans into the comfort of tradition, like, what we have for Christmas dinner. So today, November 15th, 2018 I went […]
It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I experience a seasonal change – every time it feels as if it’s the first time. My friend Jo-Ann and I were hiking with our dogs in my favourite area, Carman and Brown Lakes and excitedly taking photos of ice forming on the shore of the lake […]
