Year: 2017

Last fall, I had a contents sale of my mother's personal stuff that she no longer needed or would have use of, as she had moved into a retirement facility. There were glasses, dishes, oil heaters, a wall unit, a sofa, a table and chairs, … Read more

It was a very snowy winter. Snow after snow fell, day after day. We lived in a very white world. As spring thaw began, a team of horses pulling a sled suddenly went down so deep beside the winter-packed tracks that they threw snow over … Read more

Sadly, I have read of many Aboriginal and Inuit teens attempting suicide in remote northern Canada. They experience depression at twice the rate of the rest of Canada. Many years ago, I worked in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, helping street … Read more

I have moved house recently to a chalet bungalow on the very edge of town here in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The house is rather run-down and in need of major TLC. There was a holly tree that was planted some twenty years ago … Read more

During the time when I lived in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, I saw many flocks of sheep in the desert area where we were building a 175-mile pipeline. On several occasions, I had to fly to our field office in the interior of the … Read more

This past summer, my washing machine broke down. The part to fix it costs almost as much as a new machine. While debating what to do, I began to wash clothes by hand. Hanging dripping items outside on a hot, sunny morning is a pleasant … Read more

Some years ago, I checked in at a high-rise hotel, and was instructed by the hotel clerk how to find my room. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the floor to which I had been directed. When the door opened, I stepped … Read more

Every morning, I clean up the manure in the corral. I use a short rake and a large shovel for picking it up and tossing it into either a sled or a wagon for hauling, depending upon the season. This morning as I was going about this daily … Read more

As a child and teen, I fought my parents' rules tooth and nail, only realizing later how much obeying them had profited me. Forty-seven years later, I can still see the rules hanging in a frame on my bedroom wall. I can't remember them … Read more

I am a person living with a mental illness. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder many years ago, when I was in my thirties. Given the nature of the illness, I have naturally had ups and downs. Each and every day, I need to make sure … Read more