Dec 2023

In memory of a dear friend...

Teresita Patricia Gonzalez Magnon
Was born in Mexico City.
An Aries, about six years after
My own Sag birth in Seattle.
We both went to high school
And university in San Antonio, Texas.
But we didn’t meet until
We both worked for EQAO,
In Toronto 1997.
She was director of assessments
And I was a temp typist…
Actually working as a graphic designer
And copyeditor.
We bonded over the work…
And the love of Mexican Food.

We both moved on,
Me to actually learn digital design
And she to work with UNICEF
With consulting educational assignments
All over the world,
Including Nairobi, Moldova, and two years in Vanuatu!
We always kept in touch
And when she moved back to Canada
She lived just a few blocks from me.

Continuing her advocacy
For children everywhere,
I was privileged to copyedit
Teresa’s UNICEF reports.
I learned so much about
Truly important issues about education
In places like Montenegro, Turkmenistan, and Albania.

We regularly met for brunch at our local diner
Or for our fave Mexican street food
At Broadview’s own El Charro—
Now moved to a bigger spot
On the Danforth.
A few years ago, Teresa went on
A long-dreamed-of African safari.
The pix, which I’ve shared here,
Were amazing… and I loved
Hearing of all of her adventures.
This past year she made a big trip
To visit with her family in Mexico
And she travelled to many of her favourite
Parts of her home country.
Teresa passed before she could tell me all,
But she did send some pix.
This month’s calendar is one of my faves.
I miss her… but I’m happy with
All the delightful memories
Of my friend Teresa.
 
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Nov 2023

 

Tis the season of cottages and black cats...

A couple of weeks ago,
Peter came up and
We drove to London together
To see Lucas’s doc,
Homelessness in London,
At the Forest City Film Festival.

We got to have a delish lunch
With the filmmaker himself…
Then to see his film
Along with five other films
That addressed issues
Involving mental health.
We were touched and
Sooooo proud,
Even posing for
A red carpet pic together.



Twas a wonderful—even if overcast—day.
Bonus was seeing
All the autumnal colours,
Particularly as we
Started out heading north
Along the Don Valley Parkway.
I didn’t try to take any pix
From our moving car,
But Marje sent me this one
From her family cottage,
On this remarkable little lake
North of Toronto.
Like in my Nov 2018 precedent,
I’ve hidden some black cats here…
Five of them for you to find.
Here’s a black cat for you
In case you’d like
To add one—or more—to your own
Creations.

 

 

 

 

 

 ...

November marks the time
To write your own story.
Why not get started on yours?
NaNaWriMo. 

 ...

Have a great Mo/November
And
Be sure to remember
While you're remembering
On the eleventh:
Vonnegut
Et al.
His birthday
And pleas
For humanity.

 ...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Oct 2023

A time for choices...

Once upon a time
Peter’s dad and I
Discovered that we
Shared a long-time yen…
It wasn’t a prolonged discussion…
Just a random admission
That we each had always
Harboured the yen
To live in Australia.

The planning did take
A long time.
First were the formal applications
And the waiting for approvals…
Then the divesting
Of all our Texas stuff.

Then the decision to travel
To Sydney via six months
In Mexico…
Because... maybe we’d
Never be able to return
To see stuff we’d always
Saved for “next time.”

Oz presented us with
Choices of the
Starting-over variety…
The chance to
Reinvent ourselves
Each with our own tools
From our pasts.

Many more choices
Ensued…
Most with the awareness
That timing within
My lifespan can
Give breadth to
New hopes and aspirations...
To expand my options
For my future self
To relish.

Of course, some choices
Grabbed me by the nape
Of my neck and
Forced me to reconsider.

Decisions are like that, eh?
Neither good nor bad…
Just creating a fork in the road
That can change everything.
~
At the budding starts
Of their careers,
Lucas and Lauren have chosen
The magic of Halifax
To be their first home together.
This month's offering is another pic
Showing us yet another reason
For their choice:
Sunrise from Point Pleasant Park.

Early last month
Peter and Lisl visited them
And saw for themselves…
The nature and the food and the culture.

and the food

and the culture.

From the Maud Lewis exhibit
At the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
To the rooftop reading room

At the glorious Halifax Central Library…
All just short hops
From their delightful new digs.
 
I applaud.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Sept 2023

Sunrise...  Moonset... 
One season following another...

Thursday morn greets both
Rise and set…
And my westward view 
Is multiplied
In heaven’s splendour.

As you know by now,
I always see the sunrise
Reflected back to me
On the buildings
Across the Don River
From my 18th-floor aerie.
But Thursday's sunrise
Underlines this moon's
Setting.

This moon is 
Both blue and super.
With my continuing obsession 
With the colour blue,
I’d like it to be actually blue, 
But, alas, a blue moon
Is not at all blue… 
In hue.
You know the expression,
“Once in a blue moon?”
This is simply the olde timey
Designation for 
Any second full moon
Within any given month.

But this blue moon
Is also super.
That part refers to
The distance of the moon
From the earth.
Because the moon’s orbit
Is an oval, which means that
The earth-to-moon distance varies
And because of that the moon
Appears to us as changing size
We simply see the moon
As hugely bigger.

Scientists apparently
Don’t all agree
On what the distance
Must be to qualify as super,
But this blue moon qualifies
To everybody.

The next time the moon
Will be this close to the earth
Will be on 5 Nov 2025…
And this will be the last
Super blue moon until 2037.

I can hardly wait!

...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Aug 2023

Lush... A richness in so many ways...

Grandson Lucas and his sweetie Lauren
Both graduated from university
This just-past spring.
After a trip to Halifax
They decided that’s where they
Wanted to make their first home
Together.
They are now each employed
At their first grown-up jobs…
Lucas writes remotely
For The Peak, a daily newsletter
That focusses on Canadian business
And the international news that affects
It—and therefore—us.
Lauren has found work in Halifax
And come September they move
From temporary summer digs
Into an amazing apartment
That’s part of a house built in 1870!

The day in this pic,
Lucas and Lauren strolled
Among these rich greens of
Cape Breton National Park…
Where they found this gushy waterfall.

Theirs is a life filled with
The lushness of nature
And of youth and of the promises
Their lives hold
For them…
And for the rest of us.
Because as family…
And friends…
And even
As friends of friends.
We can all rejoice
In our own reflections
Of their lush experiences.

I say,
Hooray!
I am such a lucky
Nana Bee!
...
     FYI, my still-new post-cataract eyes
     That continue to be amazed
     By all things blue…
     Also relish wallowing
     In the copious greens
     That keep viing for my attention…
     Just in case you haven’t noticed
     In many of my recent calendars.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

july 2023

 

Crookneck Squash Grows in Texas...

I’ve been in Toronto
Since 1976
And I no longer
Live without tacos
Or okra.
For about 10 years
I could even get
Gebhardt’s Chili Quik
At Kensington Market…
But since that ended
The internet provided me
With a recipe I can make
For myself.
I even have places to get
Mexican chorizo
And real corn tortillas…
Even masa harina
Should I want to make my own
Using my cute red tortilla press.
And I can even get Texas-style BBQ
Delivered to my door!

But one of the things I
Continue to miss is
Yellow crookneck squash.
Like these that Phoebe’s sister Sally
Still grows at her
East Texas home.
These blossoms will very soon
Erupt into buttery yellow goodness
Like this

 

My mum used to slice them
And steam them
And serve them with a bit
Of freshly squeezed lime juice.



One day in 1962
I played with my food…
Sketching what became
This cast sterling silver pendant.



Oh, Toronto…
Please tell me where I can get
Me some yellow crookneck squash.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

June 2023

 

Lush paradises invite... lure...

To celebrate a major milestone
Peter and Lisl journeyed first
To Windsor to attend,
Not a coronation, but a wedding...
And thence onward
To a fortnight in Mallorca...
For promised languishing
In a lush paradise.
Of course their home in Barbados
Is its own brand of lush paradise.
This pic shows us new definitions
Of lush and paradise...
It’s all lush… and all paradise…
Just with its own delights
And history spread out
For fresh discoveries
Each day.

I challenged OpenAI
To write me something
About this courtyard
In Peter’s and Lisl’s
Air-BnB home in Sóller
Where they sipped morning coffees
Near their own pool.
Lush paradise, indeed.

OpenAI spewed out reams
But I’m particularly
Entranced with these lines:

     In Mallorca's sun-kissed embrace,
     Lies a realm of beauty and grace,
     Where courtyards bloom in vibrant hues,
     Amidst lemon trees and terra cotta views.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

May 2023

 

My dad, an apprentice in Puebla...

Sometime around 1970
My father discovered gemstones.
His job involved lots of
Road travel in Texas and
He rejoiced in all his finds,
Whether roadside or
Local rockhound shops
That he found dotted around
His wide-ranging territory.
He built himself
A little backyard shed
Under a big pecan tree,
But he added air-conditioning, of course…
This was San Antonio, after all.

He equipped his shed
With polishing equipment
And cutting equipment
And produced mounds
Of beautiful shiny ovals
Ready to be mounted
In pendants, or rings,
Or belt buckles, or bolo ties.
He learned a lot from asking others
And from the library…
Eventually, he decided
He wanted to learn how to set
His own stones. He wanted
To learn silversmithing.

Now, Mexico has oodles
Of talented silversmiths,
And Puebla is perhaps
The largest concentration of them.
So my mum, who spoke fluent Spanish,
Found a silversmithing place
In Puebla who agreed to take
My dad on as an unofficial apprentice.
Did I mention that this dad of mine
Spoke almost no Spanish???
Anyhow off my parents went
For two weeks in Puebla,
Where my mum would drop
My dad off each morning, then
Return at lunchtime, and again
At end of day.
During the day my dad would
Follow example instructions
And when my mum came
She would translate for
Both my dad and his teachers.
Seems the Puebla guys
Loved my dad…
Not a surprise, he was
Infinitely lovable.

He learned loads and returned
Back home and work.
On the weekends at home, he loved
His time in his shed.
The next year they did
Another fortnight in Puebla.
This time he learned
About casting and added
A centrifugal casting machine
To his shed’s equipment.
Seems dentists use the same machines.
He loved casting and he started
Branching out into some
More designer-type options…
Some which I still wear
With joy and pride.

When my dad passed
My mum sold most of his
Remaining gemstones
And gave me a cool collection
Of what was left.
You see some of them here,
In an African stone bowl
With a carved turtle that guards
The bright shiny treasures…
He’s always happy
When I stop by and
Run my fingers through them…
And remember my daddy.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

April 2023

 

March just seemed to ooze away...

No lions.
No lambs.
But the month this year
Was filled with lotsa
Rampaging lions…
And some
Gently portending lambs.

My balcony Buddha,
Has watched with
Shivering determination
And hopeful delight.
Now backed by netting
Installed to protect him…
And my table…
And my rocking chair…
From pigeons.
The interstices seem
To invite some bullet journalling
Above the rail
And some graphed diagramming
Below the rail.

Maybe my balcony Buddha
Wants us all to notice
More about our daily worlds
And to jot down our observations
To give voice to our eyes.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

March 2023

 For our fresh new year...

We’re all just
Too, too familiar
With aspirations
For our fresh
New year.
We have our
Hopes…
Wishes…
Resolutions.

But Mother Nature
Shows us the way:
No matter what,
We must all
Proceed with firm
Determination.
Indeed,
In the face of
Winter’s freezing howls,
Spring asserts her
Firm determinations
In the form of pulsating
Buds
That push through
A frozen crust
To show us all
How it’s done.
...
In October last,
Fiona Beth Phillips
Moved with her family
To new digs in
Atherstone in England.
She reports they
Wintered in place
And are now greeted
With this early emanation
Of flowering quince.
I like that The Spruce
Reports that this is a shrub
“With a somewhat
Messy growth habit!”

I invite you all
To join me in a
Fresh determination
To indulge in our own
Messy growth...
Nothing tentative...
Messy is always
Good.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Feb 2023

Many happy returns... always...

If you are born in Toronto

At 9:15 am today, this is what your

Astrological natal chart will look like.

The sun is associated with

Your best expression of yourself.

In your chart the sun’s in Aquarius,

The sign associated with

The forming of community,

Of developing a path

To inclusion and universality…

In other words: common ground.

Plus, in your chart Aquarius

Occupies the second house,

The parts of your life

Concerned with your

Personal resources...

Whatever you need

For your own sustenance…

Like food, money,

And a rock solid

Sense of values.

Every year on your birthday…

     Give or take a day or two

     Because: leap year…

The sun shows up

In the same place.

That’s what the ancients,

Like those famous

Three wise men,

Called your solar return.

That’s the real reason

People will wish you

Many happy returns.

The sun’s position is easy to know

Because the earth orbits

Around the sun every 365 days...

     Sort of… remember

     Leap year catches us up

     For those extra

     5 hours,

     59 minutes, and

     16 seconds each year.

The moon, of course,

And all the planets

Also have returns,

But their orbits around the sun

Take different amounts of time

So you’ll need to look it up

Or ask an astrologer,

The scientists of yore

Still plying our trade

In 2023.

...
Want to know what those symbols are on this month’s calendar? I have a keywords chart for you in this folder. You’ll see the sun and the moon are listed as planets. That’s just tradition talking. We know they’re not really planets. While you’re there, why not pick up the higher resolution version of my calendar and try it out as wallpaper on your computer desktop? That’s what I do every month. (background photo by Cosmic Timetraveler on Unsplash)

Please enjoy this glorious and short month... hearts included.
xo
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Jan 2023

As they say... No mud. No lotus...

The lotus flowers and seeds
Simultaneously
But can do nothing
Without having its roots
Stuck firmly into
Some thick, gooey,
And messy mud.

The mud’s invisible,
Of course,
But the lotus
Knows its job…
And bloom, it must,
So it sinks its tendrils
Ever deeper
And draws up
The light
That is the essence
Of all life.

As humans we also bloom
When our feet are planted firmly.
Our mud is the stuff of daily life.
And there’s a lot of it...
Mostly daily grind stuff…
Often obstacles that
Must be overcome
For our path to even appear…
Then require further
Vanquishment to keep on
Keeping on.

Sometimes our mud
Is our own choosing…
The quality defined
By the nature of our aspirations.
This year I am choosing
The mud of learning
Some new things…
All which I’m showing to you
Here, in this month’s calendar.

My determination this year
Is to learn Affinity
Designer, Photo, and Publisher…
Affordable alternatives to my
Long-time faves from Adobe:
Illustrator and Photoshop.
I’m retired now
So don’t need to keep paying
For a costly professional subscription…
But I want to be able
To continue making
Calendars—and more…
As is my wont.
So I bought the Affinity apps
(One-time fee, no subscription)
And I produced
This month’s calendar
In its entirety
Using Affinity.
What would have taken
Thirty minutes in Illustrator
Took three days.
Ha! Not because
Affinity is slow or difficult,
But because I had
To learn lotsa new stuff:
New vocabulary.
New menus.
New controls.
All so the result
Can look like
A seamless continuation
Of my monthly offerings.
...
Thank you again, Susan,
For taking this glorious image
On your travels…
And for letting me use it… again.

And why does my calendar say
Nam myoho renge kyo
Across the bottom???
That’s the title
Of the historical Buddha’s
Last teaching,
The Lotus Sutra.
That’s what I chant
Every day…
Morning and evening…
Like breathing out
And breathing in…
To awaken my own
Buddha nature
And rejoice in the happiness
Of my everyday life…
Mud and all.

I must admit
The mud of these
Past few years
Made me think I might
Be blooming as a dandelion
Instead of the
Hoped-for-rose.
But I continue
To bloom
In my solitude…
Toes happily squishing
In each day’s mud.
...
Any new mud
For you this year?
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course