Sept 30 - Photo a Day - You, Then

San Francisco 1983

Been thinking about this lovely Vietnamese lady a lot recently, as she was my very first English as a Second Language (ESL) student. 

I was sharing a six-bedroom, second-floor flat (usually with ten to twelve roommates) one storefront from the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets: hippie central in San Francisco.

One of the sweet, chatty regulars at my mindless restaurant job told me about her daughter's new volunteer gig with Partners in English. A short, intense two weeks later, I began weekly visits to Nga's home.

She lived on Geary Blvd, one of the city's major east-west thoroughfares, in a tiny, packed-with-love, two-bedroom apartment. It housed four generations of her family, from Na-Na to Natalie, her infant daughter. No one but Nga spoke any English, and she was brand new to the language. Yet I felt warmly welcomed into this family, and was blessed to work with her and witness her amazing growth for over a year.

Today, nearly thirty years and a zillion experiences later, I've come full-circle. I am in the process of building an ESL tutoring business, and co-facilitating an Adult English Conversation group at the city library. It turns out, when mom told me in elementary school, that I should be an English teacher, she was right all along!

(P.S. While I look like a kid in this photo, I was actually 24!)

Sept 29 - Photo a Day - Errand

Saturday Morning at Kanata Farmers' Market

If only all errands were so much fun! Our closest Farmers' Market is tiny... maybe 15 booths, but we're getting to know some of the dear, friendly sellers, and truly love supporting local, non-chemical (if not yet certified organic) merchants.

Here's our usual haul:

• A mound of tomatoes
• Herbed (or not) goat cheese
• Free-range eggs
• Sourdough and/or whole-grain and seed bread

 
And then there are the ocassionals:

• green, yellow, and red peppers
• green and yellow string beans
• cauliflower (often made into "rice" or pizza crusts)
• brussel sprouts
• apples (honeycrisp again today... oh my!)
• berries
• and cilantro salsa (the recipe I tried--somewhat successfully--to copy this year.)

We put off the rest of our errands until tomorrow so we could enjoy this gorgeous weather (it looks grey, but there's actually a bright blue sky with just a few puffy clouds outside) and join some friends for a bike ride. Sooo... we're off, and you get a taste of my favourite errand of all!

P.S. This turned out to be a pretty fitting post for the night of the Harvest Moon! Hope you enjoy it.

Sept 28 - Photo a Day - A Good Thing

Poor, put-upon, just-bathed Copper and his quick sister, Penny

Our goofy, 85-lb/39 kg golden retriever is water-adverse. Having lived in a pen in upstate NY most of his life, he doesn't know the joy of the ocean, and thinks I'm insane when I try to talk him into a dip in a lake or river. Mules got nothin' on Copper.

Giving us the privacy to use the washroom is never a problem with this boy. He has only voluntarily joined me in there once -- in the midst of a directly-overhead thunderstorm, when he knew that my lap was the only safe place in the world. Otherwise, it is the evil room in our house.

On bath day, like this morning, it takes both of us to get him into the tub... me holding his collar so he doesn't dash, and Pierre doing the heavy, two-step lifting. Amazingly, once he's in there, he wags away, and doesn't even attempt an escape, even though it is clearly not his 'druthers.

After a few weeks of rolling in his favourite muddy spot outside the back door and eating delicious fish-based dog food, this pup gets... rank. Giving him a bath makes him look at me like this, both in the tub and for a little while after, but snuggling with a clean, sweet-smelling pupper is a very, very good thing. And luckily, the snuggles always seem to bring back his smile.

Sept 27 - Photo a Day - Love/Hate

The Hooch Cabinet

Booze is a double-edged sword in my life. At times I love it.... perhaps too much. And at others, I hate its allure, its influence on my and others' lives, its sneaky way of trapping so many in its net.

Alcohol has been my drug of choice since I was a youngster. University years, especially, were soaked in clubs and parties. Socializing in my beloved home cities of San Francisco, Seattle and now, Ottawa, has almost always included liquor. Many of my most fun memories with friends and family have been enhanced with bottles of beer or wine, and shots of every hard liquor imaginable. I can count on three fingers the flavours I don't like.

In my early twenties, a boyfriend nearly died of acute alcohol poisoning. On that horrifying night, we learned that you can drink too much, and AL ANON became a regular Tuesday night stop. Some friends spiralled out of control and hit bottom: a terrible thing to see. A number of them joined AA along the way, reclaiming their lives, and making their loved ones proud.

I scare myself sometimes, falling into the unconscious habit of having a couple of drinks (sometimes more) every night -- not to the point of drunkenness, but still... it's frightening when I find myself looking forward to the taste and the buzz. I've seen what can happen when you're not watching, and while medical studies show that a little red wine is healthy, more is not, and we only get one liver. On occasion, to prove to myself that I still can, I stop. That's why, for the past month, we have taken back the reins and only sip a bit on the weekends.

Sept 26 - Photo a Day - Near

Nearly there!

Near bliss...

Receiving an hour-long massage from a therapist who really has the touch is a heavenly thing.

Massage therapy was my first official profession, and through almost 25 years of giving and 10 years of teaching it, I didn't get nearly enough!

Back in those days, I'd occasionally connect with a fellow practitioner in a workshop. We'd schedule a few trades before life would get too busy again, or one of us would move away. Months often passed between treatments.

Over the past three years when I was back in college, I visited the on-campus massage clinic, getting discounted treatments from second- and third-year students. Most of the massages were very good.

The last one -- oddly, also her final college clinical appointment -- was divine. One thing I've learned is to speak up when things are spectacular. Lucky for me, she had a lovely pink and green business card in her purse.

Today I walked through this beautiful door and upstairs to a warm, quiet room, where my newly-certified, ultra-talented therapist and friend, Emilie works. There, once again, I was treated by a true artist to the blissful practice of a profession that is near and dear to my heart.

Thank you, Em. May your work bring great joy....

The Fabulous Emilie at Body Poets in Ottawa

Sept 25 - Photo a Day - Frame

This old frame... homely, beat up, and well-traveled, has been with me for many long years. Belonging originally, I believe, to my Gramps and Gran on mom's side (though it could go back another generation), it was entrusted to me when they were still with us, and spry.

At some point, in their hands, I assume, the beveled mirror was reframed, and went from a much smaller, sharp-cornered block frame -- glued behind this -- to a gilded and bedecked slice of stained plywood.

 I've often wondered why they chose this particular upgrade, and what its original border looked like. I have considered reframing it more than a dozen times, and clearly, in each instance, sentimentality has triumphed.

Through many living-, dining-, tv-, and bed-rooms, it has reflected my homes' other belongings. My face has changed in it from a smooth twenty-something just out of girlhood, to a mid-fifty-year-old woman.

In its current placement, it reflects another frame, one which holds the words of Emily Dickenson: Dwell in Possibility... definitely my favourite place to live, and perhaps that of this old mirror.

Sept 24 - Photo a Day - 3 Things

Three?

Normally, in-home laundry rooms contain two appliances. For some reason, the previous owners of our home left us an extra washer. (Penny is kindly pointing it out for you while using the bonus folding surface as a snack counter.)

We've never plugged in the center machine -- we're (possibly wrongly) assuming that it's busted.

 As I write, it's occurs to me that that assumption is rather silly. With laundry lines available in the basement and the back yard, plus the dryer, if that middle machine actually works, I could probably have all of the weekly loads finished in half the usual time.

Hmmmm... Bet you can guess what I'm doing tomorrow..... ;) Wish me luck!

Sept 23 - Photo a Day - Before Bedtime

Maybe it was growing up as the daughter of a dental technician. Or maybe it's my vivid memory of a 1960's bubble-lettered poster mom hung in our bathroom during my grade-school years that read Don't Squeeze Toothpaste From the Middle of the Tube, and Put the Cap Back. Whatever the cause, going to bed without brushing my teeth is practically an impossibility.

Since learning of the chemical mixes of junk we've been unknowingly washing with and slathing into and onto our bodies, I've been doing my best to eliminate the unhealthy, crappy commercial products and replacing them with organic, cell-building, health-enhancing ones. Some of them, I make.

Homemade toothpaste is one of my concoctions.  It's super easy and fully customizable. Starting with a few online recipes, I've added a few extra drops of this (orange and peppermint essential oils), a little less of that (baking soda and salt), and use a raspberry-flavoured magnesium powder and xylitol rather than arrowroot powder and stevia. The base is organic cold-pressed coconut oil. It took a few days to get used to the non-foaming action, but I haven't had a canker sore in months, and my mouth just feels healthier.

For now... nigh' night... sleep tight... don't let the bedbugs bite. And make your tomorrow a Marvelous Monday!

Sept 22 - Photo a Day - Up!

English and French Conversation Facilitators

Now THIS is a group of folks dedicated to lifting people UP! Volunteering at two of Ottawa's library branches and a community centre, these good people met this morning to share ideas, best practices, and laughs.

When I explained my reason for taking this shot (which was actually taken by our coordinator, since she insisted I be in it, too), there were a few quips: "Fed up?" "Shut up?" Ahh, how I love spending time with linguistic people who enjoy playing with words. :)

There's a runner up for today's photo, also. Pierre UPgraded my three-year-old- and his five-year-old cell phone! I went from my old Blackberry flip phone whose sim card had room for about five photos to the just-released tiny-but-mighty iPhone5. Yes... I have, at last, joined the twenty-first century.

Sept 21 - Photo a Day - Sometimes

This morning I met a new tutoring student. After my shower, it felt appropriate to put on a little makeup, and while doing so, I realized that was the perfect photo for today's word: Sometimes.

When I was younger, I rarely went out of the house without makeup. At the very least, mascara and blush.

As an adult, I've been blessed to have had two long-term relationships with "natural" men... both of whom answered my question of whether I should wear it or not with "if you want...".

Sometimes I do want. Usually, I wear lipstick when I'm out, but skip the rest. When we fancy up, so does my face.

I don't think it's unusual for women to believe they're not beautiful without enhancement.  Everyday, though, I'm trying to love myself exactly as I am, and believe that our true beauty comes from within.

Sept 20 - Photo a Day - Man-made

My lovely computah!

In 2006, my wonderful Aunt Jeannine emailed me a cartoon that says: "I love my computer because my friends live in it." That goofy-faced, smitten fellow, surrounded by hearts and squeezing his monitor, could be me. (Which is not to say I'm a goofy-faced fellow. Smitten, however....)

You may or may not know that I met my partner on the Internet. To be more precise, our tall, thin, gorgeous, perpetually 24-year-old cartoon avatars met in a virtual blues club on Second Life. Who'd'a guessed? Exploring a bizarre virtual world, meeting people from all over the world, certainly not looking for love, we found each other.

Later, (after hours and hours of Skype time) I moved from the Pacific Northwestern U.S. to Ottawa, Ontario knowing no one except Pierre. Again searching on my computer, via the magical man-made Internet, I discovered a newly-launched site called Girlfriend Social, sort of an online matchmaker for straight women looking for friends. On that site I hit the jackpot again, and met an incredibly fantabulous chiquita: Vickie.

Since moving here, I've met many more incredible people, most of whom I schedule get-togethers with via the 'net. My online time these days is spent between Facebook, email, and Skype (in that order) connecting with friends and family,  researching ESL materials and holistic health, and even conducting tutoring appointments. I use the Internet far more than my cell phone, and can hardly imagine living without the instant encyclopedia that Google has become.

Can you relate?

Sept 19 - Photo a Day - Underneath

Buddhist monk, Bhante Kovida

One of my dearest friends works for Health Canada here in the capital city. Two weeks ago, she invited me to attend four Wednesdays of meditations and presentations by this sweet man, Bhante Kovida.

Today -- my first open Wednesday -- I sat on a beautiful wooden floor and listened to him speak about our relationships to ourselves, the world, our friends and loved ones, and those who challenge us. Reminders, once again, that what truly matters is not on the surface / ego level of life, but rather, that which is underneath.

The Buddhist path to living mindfully includes the practice of sitting in meditation. I was one of forty students -- mostly employees from the sixteen floors above our heads -- who sat silently for the first half hour in the gorgeous Iskatew Lodge. We breathed. In and Out. Noticed our minds drifting into "thinking, thinking, thinking," and brought them back to the breath. Released. Again and again. It is difficult and peace-filled and uncomfortable and calming. Next week, I hope to join them again.

 Here is a lovely paragraph from the page he shared with us...

"Only awareness can free us from our thoughts. In the moment we become aware that our thoughts are just thoughts rather than reality itself, we wake up from their spell and can return to presence. It is empowering to discover that we are not enslaved by our thoughts, by how our mind interprets reality. This sudden taste of freedom provides a glimpse of ordinary magic. It takes practice to wake up, to emerge from our mind-created worlds. Thoughts, images, and moods are not necessarily connected to what is actually happening in the present moment. That is why the Buddha taught us to be mindful of them before we are influenced or caught by them." {Those few sentences might be worth a second read.}

Namaste, until tomorrow. ("I honor the spirit in you which is also in me.")

Sept 18 - Photo a Day - Price

Today I went into Staples to replenish  printer paper (finally found 100% recycled!) and to look at price tags.

Wandering through the overstuffed store, I came across five different aisle-end displays of these "Poly Report Covers with Tang Fasteners." Forty-eight cents apiece. And, by golly, if  you can find an ad for 'em elsewhere, we'll match that dirt-cheap price!

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw anything for forty-eight cents in an office supply store. The simplest pens run around $1.25; there was a perilously leaning, green cardboard display of bins filled with a giant variety of junk--each costing a buck; even the candy at the cash was eighty-nine cents a bar.

The sticky on the back of each of these (which, as we all know, can never be completely removed), naturally, said Made in China. Staples had to have ordered millions of them.

Will they sell? How many students or office/government workers submit reports, studies, essays, or whathaveyous in cheap poly covers like these with don't-dare-bend-them-more-than-once aluminum "tangs"? What were the factory conditions like where these originated? And how many eons does it take for every one of them to decompose? Does anybody care? Or is "We Won't Be Undersold" all that matters?

Sept 17 - Photo a Day - In my Fridge

Time to EAT!

What a mish-mosh of food there is in our fridge! I considered cleaning it all up for the photo today, then decided to just snap-it-as-it-is instead.

One thing that did was help me see what left-overs we need to toss out or turn into "glop" before they go bad!

• I wonder how chow mein tastes mixed with a bbq'd chicken thigh and mushroom soup?
• The little yellow crooknecks must be sauted for tonight's dinner. 
• That giant cauliflower and in the crisper, a half-dozen eggs, and the huge bag of mozarella on the door needs to be transformed into pizza crusts this afternoon.
• The honeycrisp apples are perfect right now.
• Where can I find a bunch of organic jalepenoes for stuffing with cream cheese and freezing?
• Grape tomatoes and broccoli sprouts...mmmm!
• I don't think even one more thing would fit in this fridge! 

Sept 16 - Photo a Day - Strange

Glommed by a Thief in the Night :(

Perhaps for some of you, squirrel-eaten tomatoes aren't such a strange sight.

This year has been the first one that the rascally little critters have grazed on my year-long-anticipated crop. And as much as I love watching their uber-aware antics, this particular behaviour is not only strange, but definitely less than endearing!

Our local squirrels (mostly black, but a few grey and red, too) are clearly not just thirsty. We have a full birdbath and dog/cat bowl resting within eyesight and easy reach. Noooo... this isn't about survival... They're going gourmet.

These gorgeous, perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes (Sicilian Saucer) seem to be their preferred fruits. I've had my eye on the one on the left -- which was nearly six inches in diameter -- for the past week, watching its yellow-green skin begin to turn pink. It was gently propped up against the top of the garden fence, far from the ground where the {above right--which also got a minor chewing} fruit grew. This morning, however, the mondo tomatoe's usual resting place was bare. Racing out to the garden, this is the very sad sight that I found.

I hope s/he enjoyed it as much as I will. The washed and trimmed remains are soon to nestle atop a scrumptious slice of mayo-spread sourdough, and topped with a pinch of brocolli sprouts. And I'll thank the squirrel gods that those little pilferers' stomachs aren't big enough to devour the entire crop.

Sept 15 - Photo a Day - First Thing You See

1. My Sweet Morning View

2. Pierre's View :)

The first thing I see -- most weekends, that is -- is my favourite person in the world: my wonderful, snuggled-in sweetheart, Pierre. (I am truly blessed to live with the LOML [love of my life] and very best friend.)

By the time my eyes begin to creak open on weekday mornings, Pierre is usually almost ready for work.

He, unlike me, was lucky to have been born with that sometimes irritating, often envied perky-morning gene. My view then, through half-opened eyes, is quite often a close-up of picture #2 above: the two fuzzy faces of Penny and Copper nuzzling, licking, drooling, meowing, whining, walking on me, and/or bringing in a treasured woobie.

These days I generally wake up surrounded by loved ones and overflowing with gratitude.

Sept 14 - Photo a Day - Favourite

Addicted to Aritichokes!

Favourite... How in the world do you choose? In which category? Only one???

Remember those chain e-mails that hit our inboxes a couple of years ago...the Friend Surveys with a list of 50 questions, most of which started with "What's your favourite..."? Delete your friend's answers, fill in your own, and forward them on. I ran through those questionnaires a few times, dutifully filling them out, reminding myself of all of the fabulous, fun, delicious, and beautiful people and things that top my long list of favourites.

I always wound up with a goofy grin on my face at around the half-way point. Focusing on (and being grateful for) the good stuff is my favourite mood-lifter. Sometimes I even clicked Forward.

A couple of days ago in the grocery, I noticed that artichokes -- by far the most succulent, fun-to-eat vegetables -- have returned! When I popped in late last night to snap a photo and nab some for tonight's dinner, to my great delight, I found them top row and center in the Fancy Vegetable section. Obviously, the produce manager also realizes their true value, and places them in their rightful place. ;-)

Sept 13 - Photo a Day - Table

Food Court Table at Hazeldean Mall

How's this for a brilliant way to keep your customers sitting (and hopefully sipping and nibbling) for awhile? This afternoon, nobody was taking advantage of the game-boards painted on the tables in the food court; however, I can imagine some serious championships taking place here. ;-)

My visit to this table was not to prove my prowess in chess, backgammon, or checkers. It didn't even include food or beverages, or shopping at the mall -- perhaps to the merchants' dismay. Instead, at this table I met a lovely, young Chinese woman: my newest ESL student! And a very fine meeting it was.

Today's theme got me thinking about the different tables I use at home throughout the day...

• the bedside table whose top holds a lamp, clock-radio, a couple of healing stones, and my current book(s)
• the entry table, usually overflowing with my notebook, a bowl of keys, a change basket, receipts, junk mail, and various eyeglasses
• the end table between the couch and rocker, receptacle for a tall stack of to-do's: books, lists, forms to fill out, and catalogues, in addition to the lamp, Christmas cactus, and a few treasures
• the matching, mission-style coffee table, home of a minimum of two laptops
• the "patty o'furniture" table under a netted gazebo in the back yard--one of the most inspiring places to write
• and the dining room table, a simple two-toned set, host of a number of warm, delightfully thought-provoking and love-filled dinner parties over the past three years, which sits patiently waiting for more.

 Sort of wild to think about all of the things that an elevated flat piece of wood makes possible, isn't it?

Sept 12 - Photo a Day - Together

"Together:" our favourite place to be!

Here's our little family first thing this morning before work. Pierre and I each have a mouthful of coconut oil, swishing away, Penny is washing her daddy's hand, and Copper is trying to snuggle in as close as he can.

It's the beginning of another fabulous day....

Spread the love!

Sept 11 - Photo a Day - Hero

Laura York - The Cancer Assassin!

This photo is a cheater... My biggest hero, Laura, lives in Portland, Oregon, so I can't physically take her picture.  However, I must share her heroic story with you, so I grabbed her newest Facebook profile photo, knowing that if I were there, I'd shoot one JUST like this!!!

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you heard your doctor say, "You have Cancer..."?

I imagine every one of us knows or has known someone--or many someones--who's heard that diagnosis (maybe it was you). Each person has had to fight it (or not) in whatever way seemed right for him or her. Cancer's an insidious, terrifying disease, and once the words leave the doctor's mouth, everything changes -- not only for the patient, but for everyone with whom the news is shared.

Oddly (because of our fab connection), Laura and I have only met "in person" once. A mutual friend bought her a massage gift certificate many years ago when we both lived in Seattle, and we just clicked. So, when I learned that this incredibly healthy young woman had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Liver Cancer -- the last stage, which is generally accepted as a death sentence--it literally rocked my world. (Which was nothing compared to what it did to hers.)

Over the past two years, I've followed Laura's journey closely via her blog and Facebook postings. She's certainly not the only one I've known to beat cancer (my personal list, thank God, includes both of my parents), but she is the only person I know who literally assassinated a deadly disease when it was at its worst. Of course she had lots of help, but the difficult choices she made and 100% committed to makes her a hero in my eyes.

Along the way she's been studying, researching, learning and sharing all kinds of things that support others fighting cancer, and can help keep the rest of us from ever having to hear those horrible words. Because, as Laura would say, "Cancer Can Suck It!"