Saturday: Sayings that Resonated This Week

"Come along inside . . . we'll see if

tea and buns can make the world a better place."

KENNETH GRAHAM, The Wind in the Willows

Happy Saturday! As I mentioned to a friend in an email, we've had another week of gorgeous weather. We had a near perfect summer and come September, and now October, it eased so gracefully into Autumn, I hardly felt the bump of seasonal change. I'm still wearing my summer sandals, if you can believe it. Many trees now stand bare while others hold their autumn coats a few more days. To my joy, winds have crisp leaves dancing down the streets. The Peace Rose has several buds on the verge of bursting open; alyssums and the tall purple salvia bloom as if still in deep summer. And most unexpectedly, one hydrangea which struggled all summer to grow up, blazed forth a single hot pink bloom this week. What a delightful surprise!

So our yard continues to create a happy place for us and the few insects still passing through. Many migrating birds have flown south, which means the year-round locals start circling back to us, our yard a part of their wintering feeding area. We hear the chickadees and finches again, and the blue jays call every morning for their share-out of peanuts.

Now, I have been working away on the next installment of My Homes series; alas, it's not ready for today. So, instead I share a few quotes that have been meaningful to me over the last few days. Hope something resonates as you read.

—— ❦ ——

One

"Often God's voice

comes in a whisper,

in a breath of silence.

Remaining in silence in

God's presence, open to

the Spirit, is already prayer.

Allow Christ to pray within you silently—

One day you will discover

that the depths of your being

is inhabited by a presence."

BODMIN HERMIT, as seen on Twitter

—— ❦ ——

Two

"Be as gentle as you can, to everyone you

brush shoulders with, with yourself.

It seems to me that lately everyone is walking

wounded, worried, weary. Make room, be patient, speak softly.

Carry mercy in your body like a necessary salve,

for the world is aching."

JOY MARIE CLARK, as seen on Twitter

—— ❦ ——

Three

"The purpose of art is not the release of

a momentary injection of adrenaline,

but a gradual lifelong construction of a

state of wonder and serenity."

GLENN GOULD

—— ❦ ——

Four

"The best moments in reading are when you come across

something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things—

which you had thought special and particular to you.

Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have

never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand

has come out and taken yours."

ALAN BENNETT

—— ❦ ——

Five

On creative work...

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.

But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good.

It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.

And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit."

IRA GLASS, as seen on Twitter

—— ❦ ——

Six

"Loneliness does not come from having no people around you,

but from being unable to communicate the things

that seem important to you."

CARL JUNG

—— ❦ ——

Finally

These words I penned in my journal to remind myself:

"I can be a light in someone's darkness;

I can be a patch of blue sky in someone's grey day;

I can be the pink surprise of one hydrangea bloom on an October morning;

I can be present to my world today."

BL

❦

Wishing you a beautiful weekend,

Brenda

Photo Credits:

(Top) Chulmin Park from Pixabay

(Bottom) Rebekka D from Pixabay

Home Sweet House, Hopefully A Series, Intro

"You can have more than one home. You can carry

your roots with you, and decide where they grow."

HENNING MANKELL

❦

In a recent issue, Victoria magazine invited its readers to respond to the prompt below:

"Reflecting on all of the abodes where you have lived, which house truly holds your heart? Whether it was the home that shaped your childhood memories, a humble cottage where you first set up housekeeping, or the place where you reside today, we would love to hear what makes this haven special."

When I read this, I thought what a lovely subject to think deeply about. I was most interested to reflect not only on the house that holds my heart but every abode that shaped and marked my life through the decades. When I started gathering my old addresses, memories long forgotten sprung up, vibrant and still so alive with feeling even after all these years. My life for the main part has fallen in pleasant places, so each dwelling is rooted in its own treasured and happy remembrances—all the way from my childhood and youth, through adulthood and middle age, and now into seniorhood.

Ever since I was a girl, I dreamt about the day I'd set up housekeeping in my own home. Each place I lived in, no matter how short the season it turned out to be, I set down some roots, made memories, made it home. However transient my stay, I always took the time to turn plain rooms and bare walls into cozy havens—whether it was my college dorm room, my summer house in Venezuela, my tiny first apartment. It was great fun! I loved housekeeping. Happily I'd set out my things: dishes and bowls, towels and bedding, books, pictures, plants, and knick-knacks. Making the space my own, where I could hang my coat, kick off my shoes, and plop into that comfy chair next to a stack of books after a busy day.

Every place had to have the potential to be cozy. Which, when I came to think of it, was elemental. Cozy was my favourite word, I think. For me, it represented comfort, warmth, and relaxation. Not to mention, safety and shelter from the elements and the outside world. I never saw until years later that I was trying to recreate that feeling of home I'd experienced in my childhood. For in that plain and unassuming farm house, my mom had made the house she had come to as a bride into a comfortable and welcoming place for her family and for all who passed through the doors as guests.

I think of one of my very first memories of that little house. I would have been about three or four or five. I came from my bedroom down the short hallway into the kitchen, bright with morning sunshine. And my young mom, standing at the counter or stove, turned to me with a smile, "Good morning, Merry Sunshine." To this day, I'm still filled with the warmth and light and love of that early childhood moment. For me, that's what home was for me. It was the way I wanted my own home to be.

I've come to see that what we know first in our lives often shapes future yearnings. My home had to have light, warmth and coziness - it was the key every time to creating something comfortable and welcoming. No matter how tiny, no matter how transient, I surrounded myself with the things I loved, the people I cared about, and created spaces that bade me and my guests welcome.

Over the next few weeks, in this Home Sweet House series, I hope to write about each of the dwellings I once called home. I look forward to revisiting them in my mind, ruminating how they shaped and sheltered my life.

❦

Wishing you a beautiful weekend, and

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians.

Brenda

Photo credit: Manfred Richter from Pixabay

Away...

"How beautifully leaves grow old.

How full of light and color are their last days."

JOHN BURROUGHS

Popping in to let you know I am away this week taking care of needful things. I'll be back soon. Autumn is glorious in these parts. Thinking of you and wishing you a beautiful day! 

❦

Heart hugs,

Brenda

Top: Image by Nguyen Son from Pixabay

Five on Friday: Quotes from My 5-Year Diary

"Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it."

GEORGE ELIOT

With autumn officially here, I'm adjusting my thoughts to be thoroughly present to the seasonal changes going on around us. It's been a very full week, with all manner of planned events and several unexpected situations.

As my mom's garageman noted when we went to pick up her car: I'm sorry it's not ready yet, almost done, but it's been the kind of day where Thursday and Friday are rolled into one. It was Wednesday as he said it. Oh yes, said I, I understand, it's been that kind of day for us as well. We chuckled. I intuitively understood his meaning—two days' work rolled into one; two days' problems rolled into one; two days' worth of busyness all rolled into one. And then some days we don't even know what day it is. Ha, sometimes life is like that.

On this cool September Friday, I've been dipping into my 5-year quote diary, looking at lines that have caught my imagination these last few days. If you don't know about the diary, you can find earlier posts HERE and HERE. I'm grateful to have access to so many inspiring and insightful thoughts—lines that make me sit up and take notice. I'm also appreciative of the many photographers who make their beautiful photos available to use, gratis, on sites like Pixabay.com. What a gift. On that note, here is Five on Friday. Hope you enjoy.

— One —

"Every morning lean thine arms

awhile upon the windowsill of heaven and

gaze upon the Lord. Then with the vision

in your heart, turn strong to meet your day."

attributed to THOMAS BLAKE

— Two —

(Brunetti) thought of something Seneca had written in one of his letters,

advising us that it wasn't until we had begun to go without things

that we realized how unnecessary they were.

Note from a Donna Leon Venetian mystery

That's certainly true in some cases. Interestingly, I have also found the opposite to be true, when I had gone without and realized something was necessary to my well-being. I guess it's about paying attention, knowing when to let go what I do not need and fully embracing what I do.

A note about Donna Leon's books. I love how thoughtful she has made her main character. While Commissario Brunetti works through his current investigation, he often finds himself musing about life, about the books he reads, about the authors his wife is devoted to, why people do what they do. As an avid reader myself, I find his musings thought-provoking and entertaining—often I come away with new thoughts and book titles to chase down in real life.

— Three —

"It is important to be able to hear 'the poetry of earth'.

W.O. MITCHELL

It was one of my great delights this summer to sit in the garden while reading, for the first time, the classic novel Who Has Seen The Wind by W.O. Mitchell. It's the story of young Brian O'Connal growing up on the Saskatchewan prairies in the 1930s. Mr. Mitchell's prose sometimes reads like poetry.

— Four —

"Realize that life is glorious, and you have

no business taking it for granted."

ANNA QUINDLEN

— Five —

"(My friend) set me an example of how to deal

with life gracefully, and I hold it in mind

even if I can't always imitate it."

HILARY MANTEL (1952 - 2022)

from an interview she did a few months ago before she died

— Bonus —

"On my patch of the planet, the days keep getting shorter.

I'll miss these long, light-filled summer days, but

there's something about earlier sunsets that feels

like the language of my soul right now."

PARKER J. PALMER

as seen on his Facebook page

❦

Wishing you a beautiful weekend,

Brenda

Photo Credits:

Top - KimGreenHalgh90 from Pixabay

One - HoaHoa111 from Pixabay

Two - Jennifer Latham from Pexels

Three - Raman Talpada from Pixabay

Four - S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

Five - Tammy Shook from Pixabay

Bonus - Juanma Martin from Pixabay

The Queen, Memories, Dahlias

In Memoriam

Queen Elizabeth II

1926 - 2022

Some of my earliest memories of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II are probably from seeing the postage stamps, which bore her image, my mother used to mail her letters. And certainly from the lovely portrait I saw of her in public places—in our school, at the post office, in our community hall. It might have been the portrait above, it feels so familiar, which is why I chose it for this commemorative post. (artist unknown, image found on the internet)

As a girl, I remember waiting with my family every Christmas Day to watch the Queen's Address. The regal event was all part and parcel of the day's beribboned festivities. And when the Queen came to Canada on numerous occasions, I eagerly waited to catch the clips of her on television and in the newspaper. My mom as a girl made a scrapbook of Royal visits. She remembers waiting with her mom and dad to see young Princess Elizabeth step off the train in Edmonton with her parents, the then King and Queen. Mom's scrapbook, lost in the attic of her childhood home, came to light years later to the great delight of us all. It thrilled me to carefully page through this tactile remnant of my mom's girlhood. I think it captured my own imagination for the Royal Family. I was always glad Canada was a part of the Commonwealth Family.

The closest I came to seeing Queen Elizabeth in person was when she visited Edmonton, Alberta in August 1978 for the opening of the Commonwealth Games. I was twenty-one, had moved to the city earlier in the year, had started my first adult job. My first summer in the city. The news came down in our office that the Queen would be at the Alberta Legislature one morning, and anyone who wanted to join the lines could head down the hill to see her. The Queen no doubt came that day to meet her viceregal, the Lieutenant Governor, Alberta's representative of the Canadian monarch and to meet the Premier of Alberta, Peter Lougheed. It must have been a quieter day for the Queen, I don't remember hoards of people around that sunny morning. I easily found a spot near the north entrance of the stately domed building where she came out, stepped into the waiting car (probably a Bentley) with the royal flags fluttering on the hood. Her entourage slowly drove by, so close I could almost touch the car. I don't recall if she waved. I know I did; I might have had a little flag in my hand. It was a thrilling moment. Not having a television or a camera (certainly no iPhone), I bought up all the newspapers to clip photos for my own Royal scrapbook.

—— ❦ ——

This week I've been gently following the news of the Queen's coffin on its journey from Balmoral to Edinburgh to London, where she now lies in state at the Palace of Westminster until her funeral on Monday, September 19th. If you've been watching, you may have noticed the lovely wreath of white flowers set on top, designed using some of the Queen's favourite flowers picked from the Balmoral Estate. It included dahlias, sweet peas, phlox, white heather, and pine fir. info from Country Living magazine

The other afternoon, Rick and I visited the nearby St Albert Botanic Park where we hoped to see their beautiful fall display of dahlias. There was a definite autumnal feel to the day, warm sunshine mingling with crisp air and the sound of leaves scrunching as we walked. Since dahlias were a favourite of the Queen's, I wanted to pause right there amongst the dahlias. . . to honour the memory of this gracious lady I have known all my life and have loved as our Monarch.

Here are dahlia photos from our visit, including one pearly white blossom which I took especially with Her late Majesty in mind.

"May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

From King Charles's Address following his mother's death

—the line originates from Shakespeare's Hamlet

—— ❦ ——

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Brenda