Saturday, January 20th, 2018

Oh, today I ventured outside!!

Lovely......

Finally the snow lies diminished 

and the icy spots are easy to avoid.

I put on my gardening coat

and a pair of clogs, -

grabbed my 'stick'

and slipped through the side garden gate

to where the birdseed is stored.

What a treat!!

Both for me and the birds,

(although my son-in-law has been keeping them well fed, I'm

sure they would be glad to see my familiar face again).

That done I moved along the fence line

to where a small mound of snow lay,

covering the new clematis I planted last summer

and the Lenten Roses!!

A few delicate white blossoms poked

through the snow,

and I used my cane to move more of the broad

green leaves and sweet white petals

into what may possibly be sunshine if the clouds clear away.

Yesterday I was struggling with a difficult linen and fine cotton warp..

Today I might even take a book out into the sunshine

(if the sun deigns to favour us!!)

and dream of spring....

violets, the first crocus, some little white snowdrops!!

and I am awash in memories of chubby hands and bouquets

shyly offered, -

the first yellow spring blooms,

and the years when we were all young and life was still to be lived.

bygone times

I have been going through old pictures today,

looking for one in particular,

but finding many others that bring back memories or stir my curiosity about

days gone by...

One cannot guarantee that recollections and stories told

will be perfectly recalled,

or that they will correspond in every small detail

with the recollections of others dear to me.

I have been reading dire things about the reliability of memory,

and things that have been passed on to me have made the journey

through many a brain, but surely pictures do not lie

and they represent a sweet and common heritage.

Here is a picture taken on my great-grandfather's porch

shortly before my grandparents left Ontario for the West.

Clustered on the porch is a great aunt and her little one,

my grandparents, my father, an aunt and an uncle.

My great grandfather occupies the rocker.

The handsome fellow leaning nonchalantly against the post is another uncle,

and to the far right my two aunts

who died in the 1918 flu epidemic.

If this was a farewell visit I can imagine the poignancy of saying goodbye.

I don't know exactly the relationship of the two young girls sitting on the steps,

but the most interesting thing about the girl who sits on the bottom most step

is that she looks exactly like our granddaughter, at the same age,

born almost a hundred years later.

Our lives are all woven together,

and the pattern repeats itself randomly,

to add richness to the tapestry.