Love Trumps Hate

Oh Donald Trump.

I was in shock, like much of the world, to discover that he won the election. I mean how in the name of all that is good, sane, decent, civilized, honest, intelligent and human did this happen? Especially at a time when our floating blue and green planet needs our care and protection the most.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depends how you look at it) I was in an unusual situation when I heard the election results.

I was hooked up to several monitors in the intensive cardiac care unit in one of our city’s most wonderful hospitals while doctors searched to find the source for the “heart attack” I appeared to have suffered last Saturday night.

Yes, this was before the election results

so I can’t blame Donald for that!

Luckily, strangely (just like life) the enzymes in the blood test that declared with almost certainty that my heart had suffered a traumatic event and been injured were proved wrong by the best tests science has to offer.

Five days later, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon
I walked out of the hospital, heart-healthy and free!

The first thing that struck me, waiting outside to be picked up by my children, was how blue the sky was. A crisp November breeze rushed up to fill my lungs and the setting sun caressed my cheek with a mother’s love.

This world is so beautiful.

I wanted to skip, jump, sing, dance.

I was healthy!

I was home.

I was loved.

My husband never left my side in the hospital (sleeping the first 2 days in a chair, and the rest in a cot) and my children spoiled me each day with their time, homemade meals, fresh clothes, board games and stories.

My epiphany: Donald Trump’s win changes nothing.

The world existed before him and the world will exist after him
because there are billions of people who know and cherish
what really matters...

* LOVE *

Family, friends, health, home, nature, the sun, moon and sky.

At home, looking out my kitchen window, it felt like I’d never left, never been terrified for my heart, my life. I watched the giant yellow maple in our backyard shower the ground with its sunshine-yellow leaves…

With everything that had just happened to me I followed the urge to be there, right under it, head turned up to watch the leaves
dance through the air on their way to the ground,
to be part of that beauty.

We are surrounded by magic…every day.

Donald Trump can’t ruin that.

I, and billions of others, won’t let him.

And whatever he does ruin, we will fix.

Continue to believe in magic and magic will continue to exist.

Gone To Seed

Seeds are marvellous mini-miracles.

To look at them, one would never suspect

that inside each tiny package,

a seed,

dry and wrinkled,

some no bigger than a grain of sand,

Could contain the power of

Transformation!

If you didn't witness it with your own eyes

would you believe it at all?

To begin this transformation

the plant must first come

completely undone.

It drops this gift-wrapped,

blueprint of itself

to the ground

Where it must remain

buried deep

in the dark

earth

Until the light

calls it back

to life

Miracles occur in the most unlikely places.

~

There are more miracles

in a square yard

of earth

than in all the fables

of the world.

And So It Begins

Winter is playing a game of peek-a-boo with us,

you know how it likes to keep things fun.

A little frost here to decorate the flowers that remain,

a dusting of snow there that disappears by mid-day...

It knows how downright unenthusiastic we can be

when it first arrives so it likes to keep us guessing,

is it here or is it not?

We become increasingly grumpy and morose

as everything around us shrivels up and dies

once the cold temperatures set in.

Our colourful landscape is stripped bare,

reduced to black and white.

And the plants that once brought us such happiness and joy?

They've turned into scary-looking monsters

that shiver in place and haunt our garden.

But, this does happen every year.

Don't lose heart.

In no time, once our eyes lose all memory

of what vibrant spring, summer and fall colours look like,

all that white fluffy stuff

will appear more and more beautiful.

Of course, there are also winter survival strategies:

You can always pretend it's just not happening.

This liar seagull is splashing around

in -1 C sun-dappled water,

but you'd never know it.

Because it's swimming in the balmy waters

of Lake Denial!

Dreaming of warmer temperatures

and soft, flower-scented breezes works well too.

If you do it right
by the time you wake up
it'll be Spring again!

But, probably the best strategy of all

is to find your inner glow,

(we all have one.)

Surround yourself with the warmth and light
of family and friends.

Laugh, complain,
be daring and go outside.

There's plenty to enjoy about every season.

The In-Between

As the season comes to an end
Autumn begins her graceful departure

and for a moment there is a stillness in the air

Geese consult about their migration with noisy honks

and conduct practice flights overhead

Leaves collect on the ground

swept into giant mounds by the increasingly chill wind

Sweaters become everyday items

As all of nature prepares for what lies ahead

And the stillness lingers

Bulrushes poke through the grasses
stiff and silent
ignoring the holes that open up in their furry hides

Small creatures take shelter

While fields of wildflowers borrow the glow of the
setting sun to burst into golden flame

and the stillness lingers

Autumn dips her brush in the
best colours of the season
and gives us something to remember
all winter long.

Dragonfly Dreams

I live in the middle of suburbia.

A land of sidewalks, paved driveways and every now and then

a teensy, tiny greenspace.

We looked long and hard to find our house

and chose it because of its12,000 square foot lot

 in a well-treed neighbourhood.

But, was I going to find dragonflies here?

Of course not...

That is, until I planted my garden

and they began to visit

regularly.

Even then, a dragonfly pond?

Can you even build one just for dragonflies?

It turns out, you can :)

It took us a few years of experimenting and educating ourselves

before we recognized the Pond Dragons (dragonfly larvae)

that scuttled along the muddy bottom of the water.

This is the first year I saw them emerge...

from my pond...

my Dragonfly Pond.

I am over the moon and beyond happy.

In the first photo:

I rescued a dragonfly from the rising pond water.

Its wings had not yet hardened enough

for it to fly away.

In the second photo:

Something twinkling in my apple tree caught my eye.

It turned out to be a dragonfly drying its wings

in the sunlight.

In the final photo:

- Best of all -

I witnessed several dragonflies

laying their eggs in the moss near the water

which means...

more dragonflies will be born in

Dragonfly Pond!

Dragonfly dreams do come true :)

Seed Of Dreams

Milkweed seeds send my imagination into flight.

It must be their soft white hairs

and the way they cling to their mother's shell

as they dance with every passing breeze.

They remind me of children.

As a parent,

I can't help but see

the caramel-coloured husk

as a home,

with all the children tucked safely inside,

protected from the harshness of the weather.

It will take a determined gust of wind

to finally pull them free.

They'll soar into the sky,

giddy with their freedom,

sparkling in the sunlight,

on their way to new opportunities.

The parent's job is done.

Remember,

we gave them wings

so they can fly.

A Natural Artist

Nature paints pictures

better

than I ever could :)

Warrior In The Mist

Found this Bald-Faced Hornet

snuffling around in a late-blooming flower.

Love his eyes,

they make him look like a helmeted warrior

waiting for battle.