Aug 2025

I wandered..

Lonely as a cloud…
Then found
I was in the spotlight

Doing an amazing
Solo. 
...
Thank you Roy for the pix
And your 13 years of
Being my wonderful 
Neighbour
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

July 2025

I’ve been in Canada since 1976...

Every year
At this time
I like to add my voice
To the sentiments
Of admiration
And appreciation that
Today’s celebrations
Imbue and
Saturate into everything
That I have come
To love about
Being here.
Thank you, Canada.
And thank you, Don Watt,
Flagman extraordinaire.  

Lucas is celebrating
In Portugal
Where he visited this beach
Last Friday.
It’s near Lisbon
And overlooks
The Atlantic.

I invite Lucas
AND ALL OF YOU
To add your voices
In whatever language
Singing… singing…
And feeling…
O Canada!
...

Enjoy this 
Celebratory calendar today,
Then move on to
This beach-only version
Sans flag. 

Both are in the
Drop Box link.
Have a great July.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

June 2025

Remembering My Date with David...

About ten years ago
I told you about
Kate’s kidnapping me
And whisking me off
To Florence
And fulfilling my
Lifelong wish
To meet
Michelangelo’s David.

Kate was abetted
By her David
Along with Peter and Lisl…
Who all joined
In that glorious day.

I remember the surprise.
I remember what we ate.
I remember the cobblestones.
I remember the immersion
Of awe.
I even remember
What I wore.
...
Last month Peter and Lisl
Returned to Florence
With several of their
Friends from Barbados.
They basked in the glory
And meandered further
Around Tuscany
Where they found more awe
In the countryside and its
Traditional offerings
Of food and wine.

Their pictures evoke
Timeless traditions…
Centuries of humans
Who have
Lived here.
Toiled here.
Flourished here.
I can see how
People here
Become
Part of the land.

...

Here’s another June calendar
Because I simply
Couldn’t decide.
I call this one
     Becoming Wine…
     It’s a cycle thing.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

May 2025

In a Galaxy Near You...

Almost 48 years ago
In Vancouver, Canada,
Peter enticed me
To take him to see
The original Star Wars movie.
We were both enthralled.
Of course.
This guy George Lucas
Had found a way to talk
To both of us…
In fact, to everyone
In our whole galaxy.

What we didn’t know
Was that the flick
Suffered something
Called “production difficulties.”
Seems the cast and crew
Believed the film
Would be a failure
PLUS
With tons of delays,
It was $3 million over budget.

Of course, we now know,
Via our ever-accurate
Hindsight,
This iconic first
Iteration of
The ever-expanding franchise
Ended up almost out-grossing
Top grosser Gone With the Wind.
And made household names
Of both its actors
And their characters.

Eventually Peter
Took his own sons
To see Star Wars
As well as subsequent
Titles as they
Were added.
Now we have
Multi-generational
Touchstones...
All from that 1977
Genesis.
...
Before the internet
We phoned each other
To say
Happy Luke Skywalker Day!
When email came along,
We continued digitally
And I’ve been
Adding my wishes
To you via my calendars
On and off for fifteen years.
This year is an ON-year.

I invite you to join us
In the throng.
In 2027 it’ll be 50 years!
Get ye ready!
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

April 2025

Remembering Comic Books...

When I was a little girl…
Let’s say about 1947-48-ish…
My parents were partners
In the downtown Waco drug store,
Praetorian Drugs.
Their friend & partner,
Sammie’s husband Everett,
Was the pharmacist.
We lived in San Benito
In the Rio Grande Valley
And every month
My mum and I
Rode the train to Waco
So my mum could
”Do the books.”
I thought that meant
Reading all the magazines
In the drug store...
Cuz she did that, too.

There was a general clerk
And even an old soda jerk
Named Andy.
I knew Andy was old
Because my mum and dad
And Sammie and Everett
Talked about his age and
His possible retirement.

I was only 4 years old
And didn’t know
Andy had instructions
To clear the comic book section
Of all except Disney offerings
During our visits
And to give me milk
No matter what I ordered
While I sat on a stool
At the old soda fountain.

My mum’s commitment
To Disney comics
Continued as I got older
Once she even refused
To let me get
Lady and the Tramp
Until I showed her
The Disney logo.

Needless to say
I didn’t continue
My interest in comics
After I outgrew Disney.

Fast forward to
Toronto circa 1985.
Kate was about
The same age
As I had been in the above…
But this is not her story.
That’s just for our
Mutual perspective.
So, 1985-ish
I went to a small
Buddhist meeting
In the home of my friend
And mentor, Mark…
One of our fellow members
Brought a guest
And after the meeting
We chatted.
He was a recent OCA grad
And he was working
As a comic book artist!!!
Mister X meant
Nothing to me,
Of course,
But it was obviously
Something impressive.
He told me a bit
About the art
And introduced me
To the concept
Of what comic books
Had become since my
Disney days in Waco.
He even told me
About the Silver Snail,
Comic book heaven
On Queen Street West.

I visited the Snail…
Spent about three hours
That first time.
I won’t tell you
How much money I spent.
But I was hooked.

That young artist
Is now one of Canada’s
Comic book royalty.
His name is Seth.
Just Seth.
I became a fan.
I’ve bought, read,
And gifted his books.
I’ve greeted him
At Word on the Street
Where he autographed
A book for me.
There’s even
An NFB doc about him.
And
Now Canada Post
Has honoured
Seth plus a few
Of his comic sibs
With their own stamps.

I just had to show you!

...
If you, like me, like to use
My calendar as your desktop,
I've made another version
This month with the right half
Shaded down so I can still
See the folders and files
I keep handy on my own desktop.
Its higher resolution version
Lives with the regular version,
But with the word "shade" added
To the filename. 
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

March 2025

 

Speaking of Snow...

Seems the Inuit have
50 words for snow…
Different types of snow:
Qanuk is snowflake.
Snow on the ground
Can be qanikcaw, aput
And muruaneq
When it’s soft and deep
And nutaryuk
When it’s fresh.
More words are for
Kinds of blowing snow
And still more for
All kinds of snow.

The Inuit languages
Are agglutinative…
New words are built
By putting existing parts
Together.
There’s no limit
To how many words
For snow there ae
Or might become
New another day.

I moved to Toronto
From San Antonio
And Dallas
Via Sydney and Vancouver.
And Toronto is considered
The Tropics of Canada…
We mostly don’t get
Tons of snow.
Unlike Montreal…
Or even Barrie,
Just 50 or so miles
North of here,
Gets loads more
Than we do.
It’s partly due to
The moderating
Lake Effect…
But some years
Mother Nature
Reminds us that
This Canadian land
Is indeed
A land of the
Great White North
Despite Lake Ontario’s
Beneficence.

And those are the times
I add to my own
Snow vocab:
Snowfall…
Snowflake…
Snowdrift…
Snowbank…
And
Even
Falling in the snow.

2025 has shown us
Just what
A white-out looks like.
My balcony buddha
Was wrapped
And topped for
Two weeks this
Past month.
I stayed home
Away from the
Freezing temps
Plus wind chill factors
Sometimes as cold
As -22 degrees Celsius.

Imagine my delight,
Then,
Espying Fiona Beth’s
Lovely Snowdrops…
Yes, Mother Nature
Has treats dripping
With snow
Just to show us
Her promise
Of Spring.
...
Fiona Beth
Is an eco-activist
Who spends her days
Teaching school.
This pic is from her
Recent family trip
Exploring Cannock Chase
In Staffordshire…
Yes, in England.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Feb 25

A fearless year of fresh starts...

Yes, the Lunar New Year
Came a bit early this year
But I’m on my regular schedule,
So please accept my
Well-wishes for this coming year
Even though they’re arriving
A few days late.
This snake is a
Blue Komodo Island Viper
AKA Trimeresurus Insularis...
Native to Komodo Island,
Indonesia.
Traditionally a Snake year
Is expected to be one
Of positive transformation
As people shed their old skins…
All negative energy from the past…
And slither into new beginnings.
...
Like many in my world
I never felt attracted to snakes.
In fact, because I loved all animals
As a girl and always
Stopped to pet them
On my way to and from school.
My mum was afraid I wouldn’t
Respect the danger
They represented, so
She asked my dad
To take me to the reptile house
At the San Antonio Zoo.
She couldn’t take me there herself
Because she was
Too afraid of snakes
To even look at them
Behind glass.
The purpose was to ensure
I knew what a snake was…
So she could teach me
To steer clear
And
TO BE AFRAID.
VERY AFRAID.

My mum spent the rest
Of my childhood
Sharing her
Abject horror of snakes.
And
The result was
A thoroughly ingrained
Fear that brought on
Screaming nightmares
From movies
And even pictures
In magazines.
...
Fast forward to 2015
When I med KC Blair
Of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The day we met he asked me,
“What are you afraid of?”
And I replied, without hesitation
“Snakes!”
“But,” I told him,
“I don’t encounter any snakes
“In my daily life, so
“All I have to do
“Is close my eyes in movies.
“It’s never been a hardship.”
And KC said
“Holding such a strong fear
“Can affect your health
“And wellbeing
“In unexpected ways.”

So KC offered to help
Rid me of this
Well-intentioned
But irrational fear
Using something called
Tapping.
No, not dancing this time.
He guided me through
A process where
I tapped my fingers
On specific places
On my hands and face.
It’s called Thought Field Therapy
And apparently
There are many adherents
Everywhere, everywhere.
Yes, it’s indeed
As woo-woo as it sounds.
He took me through
The short process twice.
And since that day in 2015
I have had no fear of snakes.
None at all.

Of course, I still don’t
Run into them in my daily life
But I can watch movies,
And see pictures
And even YouTube videos
And love how beautiful
And graceful
And colourful
They are.
...
People use tapping
For more than snakes.
Other fears, of course,
Like fear of flying
Or fear of water,
Plus
Anxiety, depression,
Pain…
The list goes on.
I’m guessing tapping
Probably works
On just about anything.
Also, it’s fast
And free.

I’ve put a little
How-to JPG here.
If you want to learn more
These are the two
Best-known books.

But my little JPG
Is truly enough.
You can always
Ask me...
You don’t have
To believe it.
You just notice
Over time that
Your old skin
Is gone
And your new one
Feels great
...
KC’s son told me
That KC passed
About three years ago.
I am saddened to hear…
But happy to be offering
This to you in his memory.
Happy New Year to us all!
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course