Jan 2022

Hold a question for this new year…

This year I observed

The winter solstice
With an online webinar…
A gathering of people
Who question our place
In our universe,
In our world,
In our city
And…
In our very breath.

Everyone’s tired
Of our continued
Imprisonment
Of body and soul.
Brought to us by
An impersonal fate
That demands
With a never-ending
Vigilance.

But exhaustion
Is not a badge of courage,
My dear friends.
We can still question.

Seems the act of
Finding our own question
Can tickle the fibres
Of our personal
Quest…
And that quest
Can set us soaring…
And the awe and wonder
We discover
Can even promote
Wellbeing for that same
Body and soul.

I invite you to search
Your heart for your own
Questions…
Your own quests…
And show us all
A new year filled with
Your own
Awe and wonder.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Dec 2021

 

Adventure re-defined...

I’m so lucky
To have adventurous friends.
You’ve heard about Susan before.
In addition to travelling the globe,
Trekking to Mt. Everest base camp…
She also takes amazing photographs.

Tim has walked El Camino—twice!
And he even wrote a book about it.
And he also takes wondrous photographs.

Peter's photos of his trip to China
And Kate's photos of her trips to Galapagos
And to Scotland's Isles of Skye and Lewis
Are simply reinforcements to
Their every-day adventures.

This month, let me introduce you
To adventurer Beatriz Yuste,
Proofreader par excellence,
Actress, writer, producer... and serious trekker.
She's hiked the Inca Trial to Machu Picchu 20 times.
That’s her foot atop Angels Landing
In Mt. Zion National Park in Utah.

My own adventures have
Led me to travel about Mexico
Via trains and buses for 6 months...
Up pyramids and along beaches
With a 2-year-old version of Peter in tow…
Then to move to Sydney, Australia
For 4 years… then to Vancouver
And Toronto for the last 45 years.
Not trekking, but Vancouver
Did involve some glorious hiking
And Toronto continues to
Delight with its ever-growing skyline
And green ravines.

My adventures these days
Involve trekking on the sidewalks
Along the edge of Riverdale Park
With the aid of a walker.
My photos are blurry.
Well, my world is blurry…
But I try to make the best use of the blurs.

I hereby announce that I expect
My world to become clearer again
After cataract surgery
The end of February.
I’m in hopes the photos will
Re-discover their clarity, too.

We all are always defining
And re-defining
Our own adventures.
Maybe even putting
Museum-type labels
On them to revisit
Again and again
In photos and in memories.

Our own adventures…
Our own observations…
Are transformed
Into our own museums
By our own acts of will.
I thank Susan and Tim and Beatriz…
Along with the rest of you
For sharing your adventures
With me…
And letting me share
Them with evryone else
....
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course