Monday Moanings - July 29, 2019

Sitting atop my wagon on this Monday, I'm just letting the wheels rock back and forth - no urgency, no pressure, no need to blast off into this July to August week.

It's summertime and the living is easy...

The most vexing decisions I have to make are how often to go to the gym this week, followed closely by what to make for suppers, and then what to write here in this blog.

It's easy all right...




Scanning the news headlines of the day, it's easy for me to assume (now there's a minefield of a word - assume!) the role of a wise, loving and responsible parent in responding to global crises and conflicts. It's easy for me to imagine a simple corrective strategy: take away their big guns along with their smartphones, separate the combatants and send them to their rooms where they shall remain until such time as they can play nice and respect the dignity of every human being while honouring the land in which they are blessed to live. Easy!

Well yes, but only from where I sit. I don't live in the midst of a region ravaged by conflict. But my heart, a mother's heart aches for the children, and for all the innocents caught in the crossfire of conflict. I grieve the devaluation of human life and the destruction of the land.

I have glimpsed something of what it might feel like to come under attack. Many years ago, thieves broke into our house while we were on vacation. We came home to a house that had been violated, every room had been tossed and some precious things were stolen. A very dark kaleidoscope of sharp jagged feelings tore me apart. Even now as I write this my body stiffens with the memory of vulnerability, fear, and outrage. But this crime happened only once to me and nobody's life was in danger, no one was home. It was not and is not a daily, weekly, monthly or even annual occurrence. It is not the norm of my life. I can't even begin to imagine if it were.

In a rural hamlet in southern Ontario, the only invaders I see daily are a family of rabbits, a momma and two little ones, who covet my marigolds. I do keep the marauders under close surveillance while they conduct early morning and evening raids on my garden, aiming only to click off a good shot with my camera.

There are no undesirable events noted in my week's agenda. No fearsome dental appointments, no threatening doctor's visits, no trials and tribulations in sight.
And that's the way the world looks from my wagon, er, hammock today.

It's summertime and the living IS easy.

Deo gratias!

©2019 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - July 25, 2019

A brief, delightful respite from the heat brought two days of busy garden and yardwork. Now I'm closeted back in the coolth of air conditioning and wondering what to write. Creativity seems elusive. I meander down a hallway lined with doors, behind which stories might be found.

So many doors...

frontiers of decision

thresholds of change

colourful, plain, weathered

closed, open, ajar

forbidding, inviting, curious

no-nonsense knockers, familiar two-tone chimes, angry bee colony buzzers

polished knobs, convenient levers, keyholes and peepholes

questions looking for answers

yes, no, maybe

Doors!

©2019 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - July 18, 2019

Environment Canada has issued a HEAT WARNING for much of southern Ontario, including my locale. Daytime temperatures will stretch into the mid 30's °C (95°F) with the humidity making it all feel more like 40°C or more (104°F). 

Currently, it's a tepid 30°C outside my door with 67% relative humidity. It's not nice out there! I have no difficulty following the recommendation to take extra precautions to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses. I did go to the gym earlier this morning and then came home and wet my plants.

I've been back inside since 10:30 am, in the 'coolth' of A/C  - praise God for Willis Carrier, the inventor! We do conserve energy as best we can with blinds down on sunny windows, and temp set to 25°C (77°F) during the day. At 11 pm, we take full advantage of reduced electric rates to supercool the house down to 20°C. Most days this strategy gets us to nearly 3 pm before the A/C has to kick in, but with no relief from the 3H's (hazy, hot and humid) in sight until a weak cold front arrives sometime on Sunday, we'll be hard-pressed to keep the A/C off that long. 

I think I'll tackle some photo editing. How about January, February and March of this year?

 

January 19, 2019

I feel much cooler already! Don't you?

Take care in the heat. Take of your pets too.

©2019 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - July 11, 2019

All jammed up!

Lady Spring's cool and damp may have held back those globes of lusciousness some three weeks, but the strawberries are coming on strong now. Better late than never!

Back in the day, some 35+ years ago, when we first arrived in this neck of the woods, picking our own vegetables and fruit was a family affair, a "friends and neighbours" outing too. July began with strawberries and sweet peas. Then the raspberries came along later in July through much of August as did the black currants. Most of the berries became jam, though I always froze some rasps for tarts and pies. And those black currants? Well, those not made into jam, became high spirited...a little something to take the chill off a long winter's night.

Soon we were growing our own veggies. Sugar snap peas stretched up along netting, ripe for the picking by early July along with some radishes. Green and wax beans followed - some eaten fresh, most blanched and frozen, a few pickled. The ever-shortening days of August and September brought in vegetables by the bushel basket. There were carrots, peppers, potatoes and onions all from our own garden. There were beefsteak and roma tomatoes too (all processed and canned for sauces) and for a few years even some corn.

My Dad in the corn patch, August 1983

These days there is no veggie garden out the side door, but there is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm offering plenty of organic produce. Every Friday from June through October I make the fifteen-minute drive to Zephyr Organics to pick up a box (half share) of just-picked delights.

I still go to the same farm in Mount Albert, Brooks Farms to get my berries each year, but for strawberries, I bypass the fields and head straight into the farm store to pick up a flat or two.

Yesterday @BrooksFarms - a quart of Saskatoon berries caught my eye too!

And by end of day, they're all in a jam!

Sunshine and warmth in a jar, or in this case a bunch of jars!

How sweet it is!

©2019 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - July 4, 2019

As has been stated here many times in the past, I'm not a fan of hot weather. The 3-H's - hazy, hot and humid are not on my Christmas card list - maybe they should be?? I do know that there are folks out there for whom the ideal summer is an endless parade of sultry days where air temperatures soar past 30°C. To you hot bodies, I apologize for this blast of cold air.

When our children were young, a string of hot days brought challenges. Yes, we had air conditioning in the house but after about three days of indoor life, the blanket forts, videos, and crafts lost their appeal and cabin fever soon raised my indoor temperature beyond tolerable. On those days, we made good an escape. If the budget permitted I'd take them to freeze in a movie theatre. There was something fun about bundling up to sit in a theatre when outside a t-shirt was too warm. There were giggles galore along with occasional complaints about cold noses.

Most often, we headed to the cool Mall. Again out came the jackets. I had rules of course - no fighting, or screaming. Violations were punishable by immediate departure for all. That only happened once. For the most part, these excursions were cheap entertainment - there was always something new to see - and mmmarvellous mmmuffins® (as the shop was known back then), was always good for a snack. The biggest, most exciting discussion was about what muffins to take home for Daddy.

The mall outing always included some small toy, craft, colouring book and maybe even brand new crayons or markers from Lewiscraft (no longer a retailer). Sometimes there was even lunch out in the food court. Then with muffins and nick knacks and smiles, we headed home, where there were homemade popsicles, lemonade and rest before supper. Then it was off to the baseball diamond or soccer pitch, and sometimes both depending on which child was playing when.































Those were the days, the best kind of 3-H days -

Happy, Healthy, Home

1987

©2019 April Hoeller

Monday NO Moanings - Canada Day July 1, 2019

It's Canada Day in this fair land...

I am humbly grateful to have my home on this piece of land in Canada.  

I am keenly aware of the debt I owe to the original keepers of this land.

I acknowledge the Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Huron-Wendat, and Haudenosaunee.

I also acknowledge the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation as my close neighbour.

I recognize the contributions that have been made by the Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous Peoples
in shaping and strengthening our communities.

I thank all the generations of people who have taken care of this land for thousands of years.

Miigwech.

On July 1, 1960, John Diefenbaker, Canada's 13th Prime Minister, introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights in Parliament with these words:

"I am a Canadian!

Free to speak without fear,

Free to worship in my own way,

Free to stand for what I think right,

Free to oppose what I believe wrong,

Free to choose those who shall govern my country.

This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and mankind."

I'm thrilled and proud to be a part of the colourful mosaic that is my home and native land. We're not perfect, not by a long shot; we're not without problems; we've got critical issues and controversies that need tending, but not right now. Let the problems and politics, failures and controversies take a back seat today.

Happy Canada Day, eh!

©2019 April Hoeller