Wish I could relive this moment…
Julie with my dad after a lovely train ride with the family. Aaahh… Pleasant memory.
True Confessions
Oh yeah, Gina and Suzanne, you’re definitely not alone…
If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog.
If only
If only I could have an afternoon with no interruptions, I might get a chance to clean out my in-box.
If only I could wrap up this big project I could accomplish some of the other stuff I’ve been putting off.
If only I had some time to clean up my desk I might get a better handle on organizing my office.
If only I had some kid-free time at home, I could tackle some of the clutter that’s taken over our home and threatens to choke us all in our sleep.
If only I liked cleaning more, I wouldn’t fall so far behind all the time.
If only I’d been born with some of the organizational/cleaning genes that seem to be missing from my brain, I wouldn’t have any reason to write this “if only” list, ’cause my office and house would be SPARKLING!
If only I weren’t so easily distracted, I’d be getting some work done instead of writing this blog.
If only we could afford to hire a housecleaner again. (Hey – is there such a thing as an office-cleaner?)
If only I liked cleaning HALF as much as I like wasting time, reading, writing, cycling, talking, eating, sitting…
Ah shut up with yer whining and just GET SOME WORK DONE!
Sometimes, it’s the little things
…like when you walk into your mother’s bathroom, see the partial false teeth in a glass of water on the counter, and you just feel like flushing them down the toilet. There are not SUPPOSED to be a man’s false teeth in a jar in your mother’s bathroom. A little voice of insanity in your brain tells you that if you can only destroy the evidence, all of this will disappear and life will go back to normal.
I never said I was mature!
It’s over
Every year, my sister, my children, and I make an annual pilgrimage to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. This was my 18th year in attendance. It is, in my mind, one of the greatest places on earth. What can be better than a weekend spent outdoors, listening to great music, being inspired by interesting conversations, eating good food, people-watching, hanging out with my sister and kids, and running into old friends I haven’t seen in awhile?
Here are a few of my thoughts after this year’s pilgrimage:
– one of my favourite moments was on Friday night when my sister, my brother, and I were hanging out on the tarp at the evening stage. I lay on my back for awhile and looked up at the wispy clouds. Someone was blowing bubbles not too far away and they were drifting into my line of sight. Dragonflies filled the sky, floating on iridescent wings. If I looked straight up, all I could see were dragonflies, bubbles, and clouds. With the backdrop of the music and my sister’s and brother’s voices, it felt like a perfect moment.
– every year, I end up with a new favourite musician. Last year it was Martyn Joseph. This year it was Catie Curtis. They’re always singer-songwriters who can spin words into magic.
– my sister is one of my favourite people. I love that we share this common passion for the Folk Festival. We have our own language to describe the many memories we share from 16 Folk Festival visits. We share a love for good lyrics and smart songwriters. I also love how attached she is to my children, and I look forward to holding her baby at next year’s Festival.
– my sister gave me one of the greatest presents for my birthday this year. Last year, for the 30th anniversary of the Festival, we’d both had poems published in the commemorative section of the program. For my birthday, she framed the two poems, along with a picture of her and I.
– I was so proud of my three daughters yesterday. It was hot and muddy, and I thought they might get cranky, but they were all in good spirits.
– my daughters are all unique individuals and I love discovering their personalities. Yesterday, I fell in love with them all over again. Something beautiful shone from each of them… here’s what it was…
– Nikki has an incredible sense of style, and I admire her courage to try something out that she thinks is fun and funky, even if it’s not necessarily the “in thing”. Every time I caught a glimpse of her yesterday, in her tie-died yellow skirt and top (that I got her in Africa), her funky green hat, and her unique mixture of necklaces, bracelets, and anklets, I thought “what a cool looking girl! Is she really MY daughter?” She bought a really funky ring yesterday – big and bold and beautiful on her.
– Julie has a beautiful generous heart. She’d saved her birthday money for the Folk Festival, and it was burning a hole in her pocket. She wanted to buy something for everyone, and she willingly shared whatever she bought for herself. She bought her sister Maddie an ice cream, because she knew I didn’t have extra money for treats.
– Maddie is bold and free-spirited. She has blind faith that the world will be good to her, so when she wanders off to play among strangers, she never looks back to make sure her Mom is a safe distance away. She is drawn to people, and she’d often wander over to complete strangers, strike up a conversation with them, and plunk herself down on their tarp or extra chair. She expects everyone to want to be her friend.
– It was fun introducing my niece Amy to the Folk Festival. She spent part of the day with us before flying home to Alberta. She’s getting so grown up and independent. I love to see the focus she has when she’s examining something that fascinates her, or when she’s constructing a work of art. She was quite disappointed in the craft tent when the volunteers wanted to do most of the work of the craft for her – she was quite capable of doing it herself.
– I have a lot of interesting friends, and it was fun to run into them now and then at the Festival. I didn’t spend as much time with some of them as I would have liked to, but it was nice to know they were in the crowd and enjoying the same things I was.
– My friend Ian Ross has become quite a celebrity, and it was fun to watch him in his element. After watching him do a storytelling thing at the kids tent, I hung out with him for awhile and met his daughter. He has a beautiful spirit and a wisdom that attracts people to him. I miss hanging out with him, because he has a feeling of home about him – a feeling that you are safe and cared for when you are in his presence.
– one of the greatest things about the Folk Festival is that so many people are nice to you there. People are relaxed and happy, and good music makes for good moods. It’s partly because people feel like they’re on holidays when they’re there, and partly because many of the people there are of the “social justice – share the love” demographic, but for whatever reason, it has a really good feel. People look out for each other, you can leave your stuff lying around without worrying about it getting stolen, people step aside to let you pass, your children are safe and respected – it’s just a barrel full ‘a kindness!
– I love my husband for being patient and persevering every year at this time of year. The Folk Festival’s not his thing, but he never tries to stop me from going. He lets me disappear for three days without complaining, and he always spends at least one day caring for the kids so that I can go kid-free.
Only 362 days until next year’s festival!
London and other places
It’s incredibly horrible what happened in London. It’s hard to find words to describe it. It shakes me to the core to think that there are people who feel they have the right, or perhaps even the duty, to take human lives for the sake of their cause. I don’t understand any kind of radical fundamentalism that becomes so imbedded into the fiber of your being that you’re willing to commit the ultimate crime against humanity just to make your point.
I don’t want to take away from the horror of what happened – my heart truly goes out to all the families who have to live with the consequences of this act. But I just have to ask a question… did anyone pay attention the last time there was a suicide bomber in the middle east? Perhaps it happened again this week – does anyone know? And, while I’m at it… did anyone hear how many people were killed by the janjaweed in Sudan this week? No? I didn’t think so. I don’t know the answers to those questions either.
I guess my point is that in areas of the world where violence and terror have become commonplace, the media barely bothers to tell us about it anymore. And even if they DO tell us, we tune it out. Not only that, but you won’t see the most powerful leaders of the world lining up in front of the cameras talking about the war on terror when it’s Sudanese people dying by the thousands. But when it happens on our own soil, or the soil of those people that we most closely associate with, it’s the only thing we can talk about.
Yes, it’s horrible that someone bombed the subways and a bus in London. But let’s not forget that there are other people dying needlessly in other parts of the world too. And some of them are dying at the hands of the countries represented by those powerful leaders lining up in front of the cameras. Perhaps, as we gather in mass outrage against the travesty in London, we can save some of our energy to consider the other travesties. Not only in London, but in Sudan, Iraq, and numerous other places in the world, mothers have lost their sons this week, babies have lost their fathers, and peace continues to remain illusive.