Are you ever tempted to read the last chapter of a book before you have even begun reading the first chapter? Or, if you’re somewhere in the middle of reading it, have you been tempted to skip ahead to the end to see if you really want to read the whole thing? Or maybe you …
It’s a little daunting to consider the theme when I grow up in the year when with your teenage peers of yesteryear you’re celebrating your fiftieth high school reunion. Really? When you grow up? If maturation hasn’t fully happened by now, when might it? I do like Walter Hooper’s hearty dismissal of the idea that …
Autumn-tide has begun in earnest, and in between navigating the heavier traffic of the highways of this season, flickering memories of some of the summer byways that I’ve ambled along come to me. One of my favourites is the meadow path veering off the main trail in a nearby nature park. Now, as the busy …
“Serious business.” How’s your heart rate when you hear this phrase? Which scenarios leap to mind? A hardship, maybe? A significant task with your name on it, perhaps one considerably overdue? Or much larger challenges impacting us all on the societal, even global scale? Tragedies, too, which proliferate? “Joy” is certainly not the first thing …
The phrase, “And Daffadillies fill their cups with tears,” from John Milton’s elegy “Lycidas” lingers in my mind as only a sorrowing beauty-filled thought can. Daffadillies, daffadillies—what lovely sounds to have roll off the tongue. Such beauty, and yet, yes, with such beauty, tears. Whole cups of tears, tears to overflowing. When I read this …
“Back to School! Are you ready?” Whether you are a student, teacher, parent, or an adult remembering your own schooldays as well as observing culture today, which sensations does the phrase “Back to School” and the question of readiness arouse in you? Butterflies of anticipation? Maybe even rising anxiety? If you’re a teacher, you’re probably …
years of summer children running barefoot free in the dusty roads ‘til dusk …
Holy grief—is there such a thing? Or is all grief horrid, unholy, the pain we cannot welcome? Then again, is holy grief the only kind of grief, the right kind—the other kind of grief is . . . is what? Can someone tell me what unholy grief would be? I have my moments when the …
Spring fatigue—it’s a thing, right? Tiredness that we wish we could shake off even as the days lengthen in northern climes? Instead of more energy as daylight hours increase, lethargy. Instead of buoyancy, weariness. In my part of the world in the Canadian Pacific Southwest, the sap is rising, yes. I can hardly complain! Snowdrops …
The Christmas greenery and sparkle in the stores have long been replaced by red and pink heart decorations, also bright on darker days if you live in northern climes. The greeting card aisles are chock-full with messages like “You’re the One I’ll Always Love,” “You’re in My Heart Forever,” or “You Changed My Life in …
Monika Hilder 