Summer has hit the ground running, and so have I. I’ve been keeping a secret – I’ve finally managed to start losing weight (in a healthy way) AND have energy! Yes, I still have MS fatigue, but I am motivated. I want to move constantly, even when in pain.
My yard is not large, but I love it. I have worked on the gardens there, worked on the plants, cleaning up old growth, overgrown vine, pear trees that were left to run with no one to tend them. A beautiful rose bush left to be scraggly and gnarled were cut back last year and are growing in a lush, full green. I can’t wait to see them bloom. There was a lilac bush left to grow into a gnarled, ragged tree. I trimmed it far back as well; the new green is full and gorgeous.
There was a raised garden bed left to overgrow, the only decent remnants were chives and mint left wild and full. Those beds have been tilled under, the chives moved (though ants remain in them, so they await replanting). A new, smaller, garden was tilled (all work by me) with new plants to start.
The new garden bed.
Old bed tilled under
I’ll need to take more photos of the front and full back. The branches you see around the perimeter where the trimings from the overgrown trees that I turned into a fence like structure. I absolutely love the feel of it all. My only complaint – ANTS! There are ants everywhere.
The sun has brought light back into my life – literally and figuratively. I want to be outside. I want to dig my toes into the ground and squish the soil. I want my hands to be soiled from the work I’ve down. I want the rabbits to come play, and the birds to come feed.
Here comes the sun, and I’m going to worship it every day that I can.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” ― Albert Einstein
What a month this has been. Not even half way through June, and so much has happened, is happening, will happen!
My 19 year old son is on the cusp of graduating! I’m so proud of him. He has FASD. If you don’t know what that is, it’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. His birth mother drank while pregnant, causing a great many neurological issues for my sweet boy. That said, he has constantly strived for what he wants. The past week alone he has past his learner’s driving test (YES!) and will finally graduate with his GED that he worked so hard to get. He even has full time work on a farm. To say this momma is proud would be an understatement. I can’t take the credit though. He has been staying with a caregiver who is trained in assisting those with issues like my son’s. She has been my super hero, a guardian angel that swooped in and made life so much better for all of us. My son’s mind is active, he is constantly thinking of what he wants to do with his life, how he wants to do it, where he wants to go, and so on. He has a huge heart, and his spirit shines so bright.
In other news, my parrotlet, Kalypso, has started laying eggs! My budgie, Pi, has become her mate/guardian and even injured himself trying to keep me away. Oh my. The eggs will not be fertile, budgies and parrotlets are from two very different genera. If you’d like to see a little video of them, feel free to head over to my Instagram (link on the sidebar). They are so adorable. The eggs will remain until about 20 days after the last one is laid. If I remove them any sooner, it will cause Kalypso to lay more, and that could be very harmful to her. Parrotlets can lay up to 8 eggs every other day in one breeding season!
Schools almost over for my youngest. He’s so excited to start summer, and we are so fortunate for our lives.
This, then, brings me to a very important current happening, something that needs to be talked about.
Many people in Canada, and around the World, were shocked to hear of the discover of 215 children at a former Residential School. Some calling it a dark part of Canada’s history. What a load of shit. The last Residential school closed in 1996. I graduated in 1992. I graduated university in 1997. I grew up knowing how horrible these children were treated. I don’t know if it’s because of where I was raised of my family dynamic, or that I had friends and loved ones who are First Nations. Maybe a combination of all those and the fact that I have a thirst for knowledge.
My mom’s family (as mentioned in the previous post) is Acadian from Northern New Brunswick. I’m not going to paint it with rainbows and fairy dust, but for the most part I grew up hearing how wonderful First Nations treated Acadians, especially during the horror of the deportations by the English (we know we have family that were separated from us, but we don’t know where they ended up).
My dad’s family is Welsh. My grandparents immigrated to Ontario around 1938/39. My dad’s oldest brother was born in Wales, followed by my dad who was born in Canada. If you don’t know the history of the Welsh, let’s just say the English treated them just as good as they did the Acadians and for centuries longer. The Welsh weren’t allowed to speak their own language, it’s amazing it has survived and now there are many Welsh schools in Wales.
I do know how to speak French, my mother insisted on it. I have struggled to learn Welsh. My dad spoke Welsh at home until he was school aged, then it was all English. He remembers a few words, but not much else.
Why am I explaining my family history in this context? I think because I feel like it shines a light on perspective. I was raised by families who had endured hardships. That being said, I’m white. I completely understand and see my privilege. If you see me on the street, you’re most likely going to judge me by my tattoos or lack of make up, not my skin colour. That is wrong on a level I can’t even put into words. There are those who have been born with this privilege, but they lack the perspective to see and understand it. They lash out with terms that are meant to demean, all the while showing how fragile their own self image truly is.
The fact that First Nations children were so heinously abused for just wanting to speak their mother tongue is absurdly cruel. They were harmed for things any white child would never have been even scolded for. I’ve started to read the names of the dead First Nations children, starting from A. The list is long. My pronunciation is atrocious, I am sure. I will persevere in reading each and every one. Their names deserve to be heard, I just wish their birth names, not Christian moniker, but true First Nations birth names were written therein. Some do, you can tell which ones. It breaks my heart and hurts my soul to see so much pain. I’ve tried to put myself in the shoes of their families, and I can’t. It would quite literally break me if someone stole my children from me and sent them away to such a place.
I’ve said it before, I will say it again – the depths of human depravity never cease to amaze me.
If you want to learn more, please visit The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s page – http://www.trc.ca/index.html. Here you can find more information, resources, children’s books that can help open up a conversation about Residential Schools – I firmly believe they need to be taught this, it is not just of historic importance, it is important CURRENT issue.
My heart is with you. My eyes see you. My mind thinks of you. My spirit weeps with you.
“Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” ― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I’m feeling particularly nostalgic the last (very long) while. Listening to Downtown by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis makes me reminisce of the past – driving in my old Pontiac Acadian (cherry red, 4 door, 5 speed hatchback – loved that fucking car), sun blinding me and those tiny sun visors doing nothing to stop it. The smell of beach air, friends talking, dancing, singing, laughing.
Summer Shine summarises a bit, but the essence…oh that essence
I love that summer shine you know it The sun so hot the grass so cool you just want to sit in the shade just right under the willow The clouds so high and barely there you wish you could dive into the blue sky so inviting in the day When the night comes the stars shimmer so clear the moon kisses them until they disappear into another summer shine day No breeze to fly a kite the hum of insects frogs croaking birds chirping today is the day of that summer shine The reflection off the lake strikes the eyes and makes you blind to that child that splashes the water on you It freezes and feels so good Tip toe over the hot road feet in the sand make it to the beach When the summer shine ends the bonfire full roars at that full moon They sing and dance filling the night with an intensity until the next summer shine
My hand holds an Alpine, it’s starting to get too warm, but I don’t care. Later, we’ll head down to the green downtown. We’ll hang out on a blanket, so much laughter peeling out from our lungs.
Driving with the windows down, the gas gauge is broken, but it doesn’t matter. We’re together. We’re innocent. We don’t have cell phones, we don’t have computers. It’s just us, my old Pontiac Acadian, laughter, love, friendship. That guy I have the crush on is there, I’m wayyyy too shy and anxious to act on my feelings. Butterflies are floating like crazy in my stomach. My friend teases me, but she knows. They just get me.
I have trauma in that innocence, but it’s grip is soft. I’ve constant friends about me…I’m lonely, but it’s a warm loneliness. I don’t worry as much, I don’t feel like I’m imposing by existing. I’m the driver in my life and it’s pretty damn good (why didn’t I see that then?).
Now, present day. I have a constant yearning in my soul. I can’t pick it out. I can’t identify it. Constant anxiety, worry for my kids, worry for my husband, worry about this world. I’m overwhelmed. I’d love to go downtown, sit on the green and just soak up the sun. I want to hold that memory in a steel trap and never let it out. The grip of trauma has grown so much stronger. I’m constantly raw by it’s chaffing hold. I’m just a breath away from seeing that moment, that crisp feeling of wholeness. It sits just out of my sight, barely in the shadows, waiting for the sunlight to wake it, move it.
The wonder that once filled me has dimmed in the lights of age, but I know I can find it again. I know it’s there.
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” ― Isaac Asimov
I’ve been thinking a lot about how far we, as a species, have come in the last century. We went from a very basic form of communications, to constant communication with devices more powerful than the computers that sent the shuttle to the moon on it’s first landing.
I’m only 46 years old. In my lifetime, we have come from corded phones with a dial, to cordless phones with buttons, to wireless communication small enough to fit in your palm.
We’ve come from basic UHF TV, bunny ear antennas and all, to 8K TVs that are fully integrated with smart technology and controlled with the push of a button.
We’ve gone from Pong to fully immersive graphically gorgeous games.
Growing up, our first computer was a Vic20. From that we upgraded to an IBM Best with boot disk. You literally had to put in the disk in order for the computer to work. My favourite game was one you used the arrow keys to move. Pretty sure it was Castle Attack or something similar. The character icon (if you could call it that) was a club (as in the cards icon). To attack – you bumped into the opponent. Now, the game play is so immersive that some of the graphics look real. It’s insane to me how far gaming has come in 40 years.
NOTE: I found the game! It was called Castle. Thank you internet archive for that blast from the past!
We’ve come so far technologically and yet…we, as a species, have not kept up with our technology. We are enraptured by the constant bombardment of information and have yet to learn what it means to have it all. Our children have had to cope with the brunt of it all. We have all the ability to communicate with whomever we want, and yet we are forgetting how to communicate.
Science is always changing. It is by nature and evolving discipline. New studies are done everyday that change the way we live, work, survive. New technologies appear everyday to improve our lives, make things simpler, so we are told. Some technologies absolutely have improved our lives a thousand fold. Some not so much. We are ever present online now – but not so much in real life.
Sometimes I think we are all blinded by science and the pace of life. There is something to be said about taking a slower path, enjoying what is present, what nurtures us – time to stop and smell the roses.
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.
– Robert Frost
Well then…it’s been a few months since I’ve posted and I can’t say they’ve been grand.
Covid has me working from home and I love it. I had no idea that working remotely would have me being more productive. It hasn’t been without it’s challenges.
Financially, I’ve heard of people saving money due to being home…all I have to say is they must not have teens!
We lost our bearded dragon, Charlie, in the Spring due to heart failure
My baby Chalie 💔
We adopted a new pup, Dahlia! She’s almost 15 weeks and is 25 lbs already.
Pretty baby girl ❤
In April, we found out Bishop had lung cancer and his liver was herniating into his esophagus. Notice the past tense…my heart broke last week when we had to take him for his last drive and visit to the vet. I can’t talk about it yet. I miss my boy so much. He was my copilot on drives, my snuggle buddy.
Bishop’s smile
Basically, my depression has been shit, my anxiety worse and my life a go-to. But! I have a home. I have happiness. I have family. I have food in my belly. I have gratitude ❤
It’s not the end of the world, even though it feels like it is sometimes.
Life Through My Eyes 
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