Cattitude and Gratitude

It’s the 30 th of November and I made it all the way through the Yeahwrite NoMo writing challenge, Yeah Write NoMo writing every single day for thirty days. Phew! I did it! Get out the champagne and chocolate to celebrate, Shilpa! It’s not quite the accomplishment that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is where you write a whole novel in a month, but I’m still pleased with myself. I forced myself to sit down at the computer and write something, even when I didn’t feel like it. As the month went on, I was determined not to ruin my perfect record and that motivated me even more.  It wasn’t always easy, but I persevered, even on the hard days when time and inspiration were both in short supply. My one regret is that I didn’t visit other blogs as much as I would have liked. Some days it was enough just to get the post done. I also didn’t finish replying to all the comments but I will try to catch up this week. I do appreciate the people who took the time to read m

November clouds of pink and grey Autumn slowly slips away, Naked trees in disbelief Stripped of every single leaf, Geese squawk as they line dance by Making a spectacle in the sky. I am writing something every day for the Yeah Write NoMo Challenge for November. http://yeahwrite.me/november-2015/

Time is a river, sweeping us along. Always changing and never still Sometimes it feels like we are drowning. Despite our desire for things to stay the same, they never do. Like the geese, we learn how to swim and go with the river's current. It's all we can do. (Determined to finish the November blogging challenge and not miss a day this month, I managed to throw together a short post for today. It's late at night which is not my good writing time so Yay, Me! Good night!) I am writing something every day for the Yeah Write NoMo Challenge for November. http://yeahwrite.me/november-2015/

This morning I saw a Facebook poster being shared of Charlie Brown clutching his pitiful little tree while looking up at the stars and it had this quote on it. The choir sang the song “Perhaps we are not stars” a few years ago based on the Inuit saying. It was a piece commissioned by a school to remember a 12 year old student who died suddenly. It was a hard piece to learn with many discordant notes and difficult entries. It’s not one of my favourite pieces in our repertoire but it is haunting. We sang it for a Remembrance Day service a few years back. Here is another choir singing a version of it. Since my mom's recent death, it’s a comforting thought to imagine our departed loved ones shining down on us to let us know they are happy. I will think of that when I look up at the stars. I am writing something every day for the Yeah Write NoMo Challenge for November. http://yeahwrite.me/november-2015/

I have been making digital photo books and scrapbooks for many years now. I really got into the digital books about ten years ago when the online technology became popular. I still find it amazing how I can make a book online, order it and send it off and then in a week or so, the book arrives in the mail. Magical! People probably think I’m a little bit crazy making all these photo books of events in our lives. I have boxes full of books of events and beautiful photos I have taken of our pets, Nature, birds, and the seasons. If there was a fire, I would grab those first. I truly believe that it’s so important to get the photos off the camera and computer and preserve the memories. I’ve often been surprised how some people could care less about preserving their photos and that saddens me.They think it's way too much work to even contemplate sorting their photos, let alone make a book. I will keep making the books and will do it till I can’t anymore. Sorry boys to sa

I am writing this for the Blog-a-Rhythm Wordy Wednesday picture prompt of an anchor from a photo by Sreesha Divakaran which you can see at this link. Wordy Wednesday   My mom was perfectly imperfect as we all are. She was stubborn, a bit selfish and often wanted things her way. She had a notorious redhead’s temper and wasn’t very patient.  She didn’t like being a homemaker all that much and preferred to work as a nurse when we were growing up during the 1960s and 70s.  She reminded me of Lucille Ball and even looked a bit like her with the red hair and big expressive eyes. Impulsive and brash, she would plunge full speed ahead into situations without thinking about it first. Often she’d get herself into a mess like Lucy would. But like Lucy, she had a great sense of humour and could laugh off her mistakes and continue on. I’m so different in that way and tend to play it safe too much. I always wished I had more of her gutsiness. She wasn’t afraid to take a