Musings of a Northern Canadian Senior.

It's rhubarb season! As soon as the weather turns sunny and warm, we know that fresh rhubarb will begin popping up in our gardens everywhere. Oh, what a treat! I absolutely love rhubarb. It reminds me of my childhood. Limited often to just a few weeks in the spring and early summer, many of us have childhood memories of walking out to the garden with a bowl of sugar and dipping in a fresh raw stalk.   As a senior now not as agile but good memories! Rhubarb Bike Runs were popular in the past with one of our local fruit rescue organizations, Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton. My Memories were from June in 2015 to 2017 when the weather was great I led a group of volunteers enjoyed   getting out on our bikes. On our 2016 Rhubarb Run, we picked 60-75 lbs with donations to local charities, Ronald McDonald House and Youth Emergency Shelter, as the produce was shared between the homeowners, volunteers and charity donations.The next year five riders signed up and two could not make it.....

The following is a memoir, a letter written by my mother, in early June in the mid-1970s, when my parents were transitioning from the city of Edmonton to a smaller northern Albertan city due to my father's work. At the time, I had moved out and in graduate school, my younger brother as well to his studies. But my mother with three children at home was still finding the planned move difficult. Her letter not only shows the depth of my parent's relationship but as well the gradual adjustment towards the coming move. One might also note the northern flight was delayed to a spring snow blizzard!  All the photos are my own and not to be duplicated! "My dearest, This will be the first of my many love letters. I shall write and mail to you until such time as we are together permanently and God willing forever. I miss you. I love you. I need you. It was a wonderful weekend for me - thank-you, being with you, buying our house, bringing the camera, taking pictures, shopping, meeting...

The following is shared as an educational article and hopefully may be helpful to readers. As a medical hospital Social Worker in Alberta, Canada just sharing some of my experiences in the past including the pros and cons of working with a legal document called EPOA ( Enduring Power of Attorney)  I write this as a MSW but am not a lawyer thus if questions one should further consult legal advice. As a family member who is named as the agent in the EPOA document it is important to understand some of these situations as described below. There are several situations where the question of finances comes to the surface and as social workers we may be asked to assist. e.g to confirm income level for discharge planning for a higher level of care with an elderly patient, applications for AISH, completion of Income Taxes, updating Alberta Senior’s Benefits and other financial supports. As well, family members may have difficulties to trying to cancel a credit card or utility bill. My f...

Mid Lenten term blues is a term that is often applied to students around this time of year, especially for those that are away from home. Memories of Christmas vacation seem but a pleasant blur and reading week or spring break cannot come soon enough. Others in northern climates find the lack of light difficult or may even suffer from SAD..Seasonal Affective Disorder, needing special lamps to infuse the extra Vitamin D.  Alberta fortunately has cold, but usually bright sunny, winter days, as opposed to overcast, dull rainy months of west coast climates. Most provincial governments have declared a mid-winter holiday ours being Family Day,  Previous Blog post of February 15, 2010 "So where have the mid-winter blues hit me personally? Quite frankly I miss being north and I mean further north, working in one of the small Canadian Nunavut hamlets for January and February as has been my pattern for the past 8 years….I miss the hunkering down with a good book in the evening; sewing c...

During these cold winter and often dark days, sitting quietly with a warm cup of coffee, and writing in my journal, is often a favourite part of my daily routine.   Allowing myself a few moments to be reflective, to centre, to plan tasks and occasionally vent has been practice of many years. My newest pottery mug is one made with slight imperfections, a little off balance   and a good reminder that we do not have to be perfect.  In fact, it is in our imperfections that we draw closer to God and allow the Creator to work in our lives. The Apostle Paul struggled with such and three times asked for it to be removed, as is recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 “But he s aid to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…” So as I sit in the January mishmash of Christmas decorations in the living room still to be put away,   I am again reminded of blessings and moments that we are given to reflect on this imperfect world of ours.   “My gr...

Take some time today to explore the history of Indigenous Peoples in your own and other areas. Today in Canada honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools. I live on on traditional meeting grounds, Treaty 6 territory, gathering place, and travelling route to the Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Métis, Dene and Nako-Sioux and thus acknowledge all the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit whose footsteps have marked these lands for centuries. Through my work, house guests and travels, I have come to know Inuit of Nunavut, travellers from Mexico and Central America, and Mayans in Guatemala. This young mother and daughter are from Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, one of the most traditional Mayan towns on Lake Atitlan where I visited in 2019. The town has a remarkable history of resilience and resistance from the mudslide of Hurricane Stanley in 2005 to the push back in 1990 during the civil war, against both the army and the guerrillas to abstain from operati...