Shadowed secrets

Weight my mind

Ground me in clouds

Greyer than time

Do you remember me?

Or am I a figment

Of a lie

You pretend to deny

Open now to sunlight

In the gloom

I make no sound

Simply pray

On a starlit wing

Returning to me

my soul replete

Treading lightly 

In a new day

-Lisa Thomson Wells

My last mail out I had asked my subscribers which upcoming book they would like to read of mine, given a choice of the three works currently in progress. The results are listed below in order of popularity:

I Don’t Drink Alone and Other Lies-a hilarious essay collection

Draft Book Cover

Between Midnight and the Moon-Poetry Collection

Daughter of the Moon-a Novel

So I did have a set back with editing my novel. But I am getting back on track with that and I Don’t Drink Alone is pretty much ready to format. So looks like I will have a few new releases in early 2024.

In other topics; The strangest thing has been happening to me. I come up with an idea to write about here on the blog and then moments later, I forget what my brilliant idea was. What the heck?! Also, I re-read my post on “Ten things Covid Made Me Do”. I looked for it on the blog because there was a Leonard Cohen special on HBO which triggered my memory. I thought of the time during Covid that I tied my Beau to the kitchen chair. You know what came next.

image source: Ben Nelms for CBC “Aggressive Wildfire Threatens Major Okanagan Cities”

Untitled  

Only the Lucky Ones 

Orange, smokey skies

Cloud our thoughts

Confusion and loss

Invade our lives

Burning out of control

Devil’s breath destroys

Leaving our home behind

Only the lucky ones

Get out alive

-LTW

With the wildfires foremost on my mind, the above poem came to me naturally. I can’t think of a title though. Strange as usually titles come to me first. 

I’ve been thinking about the evacuees due to wildfires in both the Interior British Columbia and Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories. In addition, the tragedy of Lahaina in Maui, Hawaii has weighed heavily on my mind as I’m sure it has with you as well.

Normally I would write about ‘summer’ and what I’ve been up to but summer hasn’t been pleasant with wildfires dominating the news. The season’s no longer as charming as its endless blue skies and incredible sunsets. It is disturbing. I do feel that our world is truly on fire. 

Just for reference, the city of Yellowknife is the most northern city in Canada. There is no daylight on the winter solstice and no darkness on the summer solstice. I’ve heard from people who have lived there that it is a magical place where the Aurora Borealis dances and the community, although fraught with a colorful history, is tight knit.

If you are curious about this city, I recommend reading Elizabeth Hay’s Late Nights On Air. I’ve read it twice because it’s that good. It is fiction (semi-autobiographical) and takes place in the mid-late 1970’s. She weaves the political issues and the growth of the city of Yellowknife in her story making the city itself a central character. The story takes you through the wilderness as well which is a vicarious way to experience the Great North without leaving your couch (haha).

I pray the city will survive and the evacuees can return to their homes and livelihoods. Ditto for the city of Kelowna which has been hit hard in the suburban areas. I saw on the news that the conditions for fighting the fires have improved but still, no rain in forecast to assist.

To give you a visual, you see on the map below exactly where Yellowknife is located. The Interior cities in British Columbia are southwestern part of the map.

Summer isn’t over yet and nor are the wildfire dangers. Let’s hope for improvement in the next few days. What’s happening in your part of the world? Do you feel overwhelmed by climate change, or the ‘news’ in general? Let’s chat in the comments. Also, if you can suggest a title for my poem please tell me in the comments. 🙂 Thank you, LA CONTESSA who suggested the title for my poem!

Such a small word for so large a meaning. To be brave even when you fear it. Whatever ‘it’ might be. I wrote in my art journal with a white pen on black painted paper (setting the mood), exactly what I needed to hear. Funny how that works. Well, the purpose of journaling truly is to help us muddle through emotions, doubts and life stuff. As I re-read this passage, I felt it might be helpful to my readers.

RAIN DROPS

Rain drops patter down

On my pain

Healing waters

Where drought had been

Nourishing

Quenching

Tear-shaped drops

Replenishing

Landscape of my heart

I used to post a quote of the week, every week! That was way back in 2012/13-ish. So I came across this quote on Instagram and it resonated. It was 3 am, but I don’t think that had anything to do with it. 🙂

Well, we’re winding down another year, Sleevers! It’s been one of the most challenging for all of us but we’re still here and finding silver linings has never been more important.

In closing out the year, I’ve put together an uplifting, emotional and empowering playlist for The Wine Diaries-Musings On Divorce Paired With Wine. And believe me when I say, I took my time making this playlist. I went back and removed songs and

July and I have a complicated relationship. I’m not sure when that happened exactly. I almost want to say that my adult self is paying penance for carefree Julys of my childhood. But that wouldn’t be accurate either. Not entirely.

It’s surprising to me that we’ve quickly reached a point in this flu crisis of considering re-opening the economy. For example, two of our least hit Canadian provinces have already rolled out a re-opening plan. It makes us hopeful in spite of the risk. Won’t it be nice to get back to normal. But we all have different opinions on this.

We’re in this thing together…

It’s hard to not panic when you read or hear the word PANdemIC. It has the word built right in. Pandemic definition: “an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population : a pandemic outbreak of a disease.”