Scented Spring

The dampness from the morning dew seeped through my felt clogs and socks to cool my toes as I wandered the grass carpets amongst the trees of Patterson Garden early this morning.  The beauty and stillness overtakes you and somehow drowns out the noise of cars just beyond the entrance.   The garden is a place where nature shelters you from the everyday, where robins freely dance and a hawk suns itself on a stump. 

There are many trees - large and small, young and old and in between - to catch your eye. But it was the blossoms which assaulted my senses - eyes glued to their beauty and smell absorbing their various and mingled scents. 

The apple blossoms are majestic in their abundance, the plum blossoms are now few, the mayday not yet profuse, the chokecherry beautiful in it's simplicity and, as has been their place for a hundred years now on prairies farms and village fences, the yellow honeysuckle to guard the entrance.  Meanwhile, in spite of it's youth, a small lilac blooms and adds to the mixture of scent and beauty.

As I left I joined the long queue of vehicles transporting us to our work places - but in my spirit was a pleasantness which I carried through the work day and later as I walked the halls of St Paul's hospital, wandered through a stuffy book store and as my husband insisted on a renovation scouting trip to the "north end" which ensnared us in rush hour traffic for an hour.  

I've downloaded my photos now and share the beauty of the blossoms, now, as I sit by an open window glancing often at the tops of the trees waving in the breeze and the clouds passing by - but still relishing in the scented spring and hoping it will continue on for some days to come.

The "May Long-Weekend" is here!

The May Long-Weekend:

The four days we 'long' for during the thaws and freezings of April.

Hoping that this weekend will bring sunshine and warm days which will linger for the next 4 months.

Hoping that our trips to the garden markets will not be in vain - that no late frost will touch our precious seedlings, cool our seed so they will not germinate,  and that  the already glorious blooms we have purchased in an effort to bring colour to our yards will continue to bloom all summer long.

Today started with a pleasant trip on our vespas to the farmer's market where we sat in the sun and had breakfast - coffee and muffin. Then we were off to purchase our usual supplies - bread, muffins,  tomatoes, and cucumbers. We meandered home stopping to sit by the river, then visiting the art supply shop to pick up a watercolour painting pad - very handy for sketches such as this one which I did before work one morning this week.  I love to sit by the river and I thought it might be good to sketch the Victoria or Traffic Bridge as they recently named it, before it is dismantled.

A rather rough sketch of the bridge and far shore while sitting above the walkways at river landing.

The rest of the day was spent in the garden raking, digging, planting and planning. Thankfully our niece came by to help with the last of the raking and Doug loaded it all up and took it to the city compost site.

Now, as I sit here a cool air is coming through the window, my face and lips still feel the effects of sun and wind, and I feel like it has been a day well spent. I did not need to plan, I did not need to 'think', I did not read or figure things out - quite simply, my mind rested and for that I was grateful.  Sometimes my mind says, "Enough!" and an unease settles in until I can find that place where silence reigns and where I find myself at home in nature.

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life" 
~ Rachel Carson

“To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.”

~ Simone Weil

Canada Geese in a flooded slough.

Where the prairie changes to the rolling parklands...just north of Turtleford

A Quote I read earlier this week and am including, just because it is one of the many quotes which say things which I 'think' but don't know how to 'say' and because it causes me to ponder and pondering, like relaxing in nature, is good for the soul.

“I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. I know what torment this is, but I can only see it, in myself anyway, as the process by which faith is deepened. A faith that just accepts is a child's faith and all right for children, but eventually you have to grow religiously as every other way, though some never do.

What people don't realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can't believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God. ”

The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor, Flannery O'Connor

Birds of paradise...

"The Birds of the Bloedel"



While in Vancouver we went to the Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park.  It was a good place to visit on an otherwise rainy day!!

But first we stopped for lunch at the VanDusen Gardens - rainy weather meant colourful umbrellas instead of wandering around the gardens!

There was a wonderful variety of intriguing and colourful plants at the conservatory but here I've included a parade of birds.  Fascinating in their calmness, fierce in their 'shrieks' [who knows what makes them do this!] and beautifully exquisite in their colours - yes, even the grey bird with the incredibly wrinkly feather pattern...

It is better to light a candle...

We are planning to escape for a few days to Vancouver, where green plants and flowers grow! And where the rain falls frequently - although I'm sure it will let up while we are there:)



Who would think the snow would still be so high, the icicles so long, and the ruts so deep mid-March...where is the bluster of March?

Will April showers be pushed into May?

Like many others I simply sigh and say, "We take what the weather brings."

I am thankful that we have such contrasts in weather because we really do get a huge range of nature's beauty.

I love how the setting sun reaching over our roof touches the top of the evergreens down the street.

This photo was taken February 24th, about 6pm, south of the city, and facing east. It was still amazingly light.  One could easily be confused, thinking it a sunset, but actually it is the reflection of the sun setting in the west as the moon rises in the east.

I read an ancient Celtic quote today that cheered me. While it may have originally applied to the hope the Celts longed for during their long experience of living under physical threat I think it also could apply to our long dreary winter....

"It is better to light a candle

Than to curse the darkness."

And so the strong force of culture and personality [Celtic grit, Norwegian ingenuity, & English fortitude - and, I suppose, Canadian 'resignation'] encourages me to once again open the door to the whiteness of yet another snowfall, start up a cold car, and drive over the ruts and ice to another day's work.... 

I know that while I complain now of the snow, come late summer I will complain of the heat.  And through it all I hope I will continue to learn to look for the beauty each day brings because in its coming it pushes back the darkness.

Show and Sale

Big Sky Artists Show & Sale

Grace Westminster Church Auditorium 
10th St @ Eastlake Ave, Saskatoon

April 19-21, 2013

Friday 7 – 9:30pm 
Saturday 10am – 5pm 
Sunday 11am – 4pm

Artists in Attendance

Hedie Borne

Jan Buttinger

Donna Delainey

Myrna King

Anneliesa Kristiansen

Lorna Lamothe

Bette Lemke

Jeanne Marcotte

Norma Rempel

Charlotte Sanford

Laurel Schenstead-Smith

Jean Smith 

Each year the artist group I belong to has a Show and Sale.  Each year it is "upon us" before we are ready it seems - like many events it happens before we are fully prepared.  Advent is happening while I am trying not to think of Christmas coming, Lent and Easter are fully upon us this year far to early! The snow is still 3 feet deep and winter just keeps hanging on - to think about things now which usually happen during "Spring" it somewhat difficult.

However, life simply does not wait for us to catch up. Often we find our souls running behind our actions - we have had little time to ponder the meaning of today before tomorrow happens.

Yesterday was a nice break.  After the morning Good Friday Service we had friends and family for lunch. A table of 10 can get quite noisy - but it was great.  What was even greater was to relax afterwards with some of the family in living room and then later in the evening to have two of our sons return to 'jam' - so nice to have creative music happening!

the "laughter of God"

The "laughter of God"

Recently, and over the course of 5 weeks, one evening a week, I attended a Contemplative Prayer seminar at Queen's House of Retreats.  It was an enlightening experience with lots of information and some participation.  One evening one of the ladies mentioned that, in her time of silence that week, she had sensed God laughing. She was somewhat startled but also pleased.

The "laughter of God" is not something we generally think of.  A stern God, a wise God, a pleased or loving God may cross our minds - but a "laughing God" - to speak it or to write it down seems strange and almost sacrilegious.  I'm intrigued by the vision of God's laughter echoing across the hills through the fog, or bounding upon the waves to land with aplomb on the sandy shore....as I, sit in silence awaiting some indication that He is indeed there.

Yesterday, I read from Esther deWaal's, Lost in Wonder, 

Uncrowd my heart, O God,

Until silence speaks

in your still small voice;

turn me from the hearing of words,

and the making of words,

and the confusion of speaking,

to listening,

waiting,

stillness,

silence.

She continues, with reference to the writings of Thomas Merton, "As the silence opens up in our hearts, and as we listen to it, it is as though we begin to feel the secret presence of the Word expanding 'Like a marvellous hidden smile'."

Merton quotes Isaac of Stella, a 12th cry Cistercian:

Let the Son of God grow in thee,

for He is formed in thee.

Let Him become immense in thee,

and may He become a great smile

and exultation and perfect joy.

Several years ago I was introduced to the writings of John O'Donohue, an Irish mystic and philosopher, who wrote a book of blessings, titled Benedictus.  In it was one titled, "A Blessing for Equilibrium" and the last phrase introduced me to the "laughter of God" phrase.

This blessing continues to entice me to listen more deeply not simply for the Word who spoke and yielded up the cosmos... or as Barbara Brown Taylor says, God spoke the logos, the Word "and a solemn procession of creatures steps out of the darkness, so steady on their feet that it is hard to believe they are using them for the first time." But I am enticed to listen more attentively for God's laughter.  

And so, I give you "A Blessing for Equilibrium" in this season of Lent - where the ups and downs created by the tension we invariably experience as we walk the path of Jesus through the Passover to Golgotha, where the joy and the sorrow stir up and unsettle our souls - and ultimately bring them once more to equilibrium, a wellness or a "Shalom"of the soul as Jesus promised, "my Peace I give to you..."

A Blessing for Equilibrium

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,

May the music of laughter break through your soul.

As the wind wants to make everything dance,

May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the freedom of the monastery bell,

May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,

So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,

May a sense of irony give you perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,

May fear or worry never put you in chains.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough

To hear in the distance the laughter of God.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(Benedictus - A Book of Blessings)

the making of a painting...

The making of a painting... the "White Roses" took many steps and many days. There always comes the point where I want to throw the painting away and toss my paint box as well... however, that is sometimes a turning point and I've learned to press on a bit further before deciding.  While the "White Roses" is, as most of my paintings tend to be, darker than I wanted, with watercolour one just needs to let it go and promise oneself to be more careful next time!

Time to set it aside for a week before finally deciding if it is worth framing.