One Part Inspiration...

One day, when I was young, my family was on vacation. We were swimming in the lake- pool at the vacation spot. Although I don't remember it, the story goes that my Dad was watching me and my siblings swim. He turned his head for a second, and when he turned back, I had disappeared. He dived into the pool and found me under the water. When he pulled me up, and I took a ragged breath, I looked at him and I said breathlessly: "AGAIN". This story is called to mind as I look back to just a week ago when I returned home from a trip to see my Dad. It was a whirlwind week; so much so, that it almost took my breath away. And I'd love to do it "AGAIN". I teased Dad that he must have a revolving door to his place, because there was so much activity and people in and out of his place the whole time. With six kids in the family, and all of us in different spots, the reality is, reunions don't happen that often. But, over the week, I got to see or talk to...

Recently I visited the church in which I grew up. Surprisingly, people still remembered me and greeted me by name. I cannot tell you how silly I felt that I couldn't remember their names. I was smiling and talking to them, and all the while, I was rapidly fast-forwarding and rewinding all the tapes in my head to try and remember who they were. To them: "How lovely to see you too!" To myself: " Can't really ask about their children because I don't even know if they have children." To them: "Yes, just here for a few days." To myself: " Think, think think, Marni....you recognize them...now who are they?? Anything????? "Nope, nothing." To them: "Yes, you too! Take care!" It is hard to admit that I've hit this wall of selective memory. Some days, I do well to remember my own family. What is strange, is that in the middle of the night sometimes, random names will pop into my head. " Ah, yes, it was Betty. She was the...

For no apparent reason, in the middle of the day, my husband called me up to see what I was doing. I happened to be eating lunch. He asked me if I wanted to do something with him, since it was a lovely day, and things were a little slow at work. So we threw a couple of chairs in the back of the van and stopped at Mickie D's for their 1$ drinks and off we went on an impromptu adventure. It was a bit of a meandering trail. We turned down a street we'd never traveled before and suddenly found ourselves on the border. We waved at our American neighbours. Then we backtracked and decided to stop in at a friend's place to peek in at their renovation. Then we rolled along and found ourselves here. I took several pictures to document the fun. The last one is in 'fluorescent' mode. Or was is iridescent? Can't remember. After sitting and looking out at this for a long time, we wandered around the other end of the lagoon, and enjoyed some of the folk music playin...

There was some terrific thunderstorms a few nights ago. I woke up often, listening and trying not to get all bent out of shape that my precious sleep was being interrupted. I drifted in and out, and then when it was light, I looked up at the clock on the wall. It said 7 a.m. Getting out bed at that hour is my habit, but I decided to stay in a few more minutes and enjoy the luxury of keeping my eyes shut. Finally, I got up at 7:20. I couldn't put it off anymore. I hopped into the shower. I used the peppermint shampoo which makes my scalp tingle, and helps me forget wishing I was still in bed. After toweling off, I walked into the bedroom and looked at the clock radio. It said 6:30 a.m. That's what I get trying to read"Down Under" clock so early in the morning. [The "Down-Under" clock was a very special wedding present from dear friends in Australia. All the numbers are backwards. It even ticks backwards. So when you look at it, you have to really make sure th...

After a very quiet week with my husband and I getting practice at being empty -nesters, the boys came home. They came running up to the van yelling and screaming "YOU'RE HERE! YOU'E HERE!" , and immediately, everything old was new again. It's not that we weren't busy while they were gone, but the atmosphere was subdued. We didn't have to work to get a word in edgewise. The washing machine didn't run continuously. The phone didn't ring with friends asking after one of them. There was no scrambling around the house to find a lost wallet/Ipod/guitar pick. When we made a mess, we cleaned it up and it stayed clean. The counters weren't littered with supplies for a now-finished job. Music didn't invade the corners of the office. The t.v. downstairs was turned off as soon as a show was watched. Food consumption rates were drastically reduced. I missed them. I missed the side-by-side conversations about daily happenings, and life issues. I missed t...

This week has been one of reunions. It wasn't planned that way, but two friends from my high school years were in town, and I was able to connect with both of them on seperate occasions. I know I said that I wouldn't attend my high school grad reunion, but these kinds of reunions are are a treat for me. The first was a message from a gal who hung out with my sister. [You might recall I liked to hang out with my sister's friends. She was one of them.] She and I had some adventures together and over the years, we have seen each other occasionally - always with the sweet anticipation of a great conversation, in which we alternately talk about deep issues, and share laughter over the absurdities we saw in life situations. She is a person with great insight. Even though our contact has been occasional since high school, whenever we have gotten together (often it has been the three of us - my sister, her and me), I have always been amazed at her ability to perceive and define the...

Saturday night, I observed the grads from 1984 at their reunion. My husband was one of them. Wow! There were a lot of middle-aged people there. It was like standing in the middle of a group of their parents about twenty-five years ago. The organizers had done a lot of work to get the reunion together. They offered a golf game on Friday, an informal get-together on Friday night, and a dinner Saturday night. My husband tried his hand at the golf game, and we both attended the dinner. It was a blast from the past, with music and artifacts from the graduating year. The valedictorian addressed the crowd, and a classmate who is a recording artist sang a few songs. There was trivia about various grads - their past interests and exploits in the real world. A PowerPoint of their grad photos played during dinner, which one could watch - and then have fun, trying to identify which person in the room was on screen. Some people still looked mostly like themselves; others assumed different identi...

The summer adventures have begun. It started by sitting in the government office for 1 1/2 hours with my #2 son waiting for someone to help him get his Social Insurance Number. He had to have it in order to work at camp. What fun! What adventures! What a colossal exercise of patience. We were fooled into thinking that it wouldn't be that long a wait by getting into line behind one other man. What we didn't see was the waiting room on the other side which was already filled by other people who had arrived when the office opened. We did get our share of entertainment , but it cut short the rest of the day's activities. While we were there, because of the close proximity of all who were in the office, we heard many stories we hadn't actually come to hear. The brother who had died and was sure to have a will but 'that woman' wouldn't let the other brother near it. The man who wouldn't give out his information to a cold call from a government worker who want...

It's July 1. For us Canadians, that sounds weird. We don't identify the date generally. We identify the day as Canada Day. Our national birthday. Even before it was Canada Day, we called it Dominion Day, not July 1. We are an every changing country - even to the point of adding another territory in 1999. Last week at the school's final assembly, "O Canada" was sung - as it is before every major event. My heart swelled with pride. I realized again how fortunate I am to be living in a country like Canada with its vast land mass and mosaic of people. I proudly lifted my head and my heart as I sang our national anthem. I prayed as I sang "God keep our land, glorious and free". Today I am going to the Canada Day parade, where I will loudly cheer the many people in the community who comprise the services and protection which I enjoy. I will wave to the police and the firemen. I will hoot and holler when the bands march by. I will enjoy the children scrambling...