Awesome Beauty

There is peace even in the storm.

Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (1853-1890) in The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

I sat in the comfort of my little abode watching a tremendous tumult churn the heavens. I could enjoy the drama from my safe roost. And now, less than an hour later, the sky is calm and the birds are chirping their evensong. Hallelujah!

T.G.I.F.

Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.

John Lennon, English musician and songwriter (1940-1980)

Blue skies. Warm temperatures. I am so looking forward to shutting off the cell phone as the long, Canada Day weekend opens relaxing vistas. My imagination has been diving into Corona's subway ads on my daily commute and bringing a smile.

Road Trip with an Old Friend

A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.

Tim Cahill, American travel writer

Schedules finally enabled long-time friends to get together for long - almost continuous - chats, whether over good food, amidst a corn field, across a picnic table, inside village shops, beside a harbour or while motoring hither and thither across the countryside. The heartwarming weekend restored some vigour to this old soul.

Journeying Separate and Together

He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.

Clarence Budington Kelland, American writer (1881-1964)

The family cruised the Grand River this evening to celebrate Father's Day. We laughed reminiscing about family adventures upon the water. I am blessed knowing that wherever the river leads us, I am buoyed by family.

Happy Father's Day!

Exercising My Right

Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th American president (1809-1865)

I have been impressed with the effort that the government has dedicated to encouraging the electorate to get off their fannies and exercise their vote. Tomorrow, the election result that I'll be most interested in is the number of people who voted. Democracy is so very precious and we need to nurture and protect it . . . blisters and all.

My Green Space

All our wisdom is stored in the trees.

Santosh Kalwar, Nepalese poet and writer

The most enjoyable part of my commute occurs near the beginning and end of my daily journey. I await the view every day and relish the beauty and life in this little corner of paradise. I witness the change in the seasons, and now the strength of squadrons of rowers and the quietude of fishers. I am thankful for this unique green space along the rail corridor but I also wonder about the erased history of the boathouses and the people who once lived here. The many lost stories that hover in that mist cause me to pause and wonder. Perhaps some of those trees know the stories of which I write.

Among Seraphim and Cherubim

A baby is a bit of stardust blown from the hand of God!

Author Unknown

The family joined today to witness the baptism of the newest little angel in our midst. Peaceful through all the ado, she certainly appeared seraphic in the beautiful gown that has adorned little cherubs in her mother's family for some two hundred years. She and we are blessed.

Of Mussels and Music

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.

Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter (1945-1981)

It was an evening of mussels and music, not muscles and music; but I just had to use a Bob Marley quotation because he came up in a conversation at work this afternoon and so it seemed apropos . . . even though Bob Marley performing Swan Lake does not. (It was one of those conversations that just doesn't make sense in the retelling, so I won't bother.)

But I would like to say that I had an amazing evening at the launch of The Royal Conservatory's 2014-15 season, which has inspired me to invest a bit of my hard earned pocket money in the pleasure of the arts. Koerner Hall's awesome acoustics surrounded me with the sultry vocals of mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah, the horns of the Canadian Brass (a national treasure), the jazzy tones of the Rob McConnell's Boss Brass, and the virtuoso talent of the students and teachers of the Royal Conservatory. I am looking forward the concert season that lies ahead.

And I mentioned mussels. Before the evening's event, I dived into a pot of mussels at the Museum Tavern. The combination with limes, gammon and sweet potato was a delicious surprise. It is now well past my bedtime due to the late commute home, but my dreams will be filled with music, mussels and a little Marley: "Don't worry about a thing, Cause every little things gonna be all right."