Thoughts On A Chai Day

By Maryanna Gabriel

It is a day for making Chai. Some days are. Stormy and blustery yet surrounded by the promise of spring. A closer inspection of my garden patch revealed the onion sets had vanished. I looked more closely. So had the peas for that matter. Dang. What critter would do that?

A movie had caught my eye and a trip to town was in order. The Way, My Way was made by Australian, Bill Bennett, about the Camino. It received good reviews. I bought my ticket and plunked down and as I watched, proceeded to bawl my eyes out. The plot was not complicated -  a curmudgeon who does the Camino Frances finishes a better man. Why did I cry? The fact I had done it? How much it reforges one? My book? All of this, I suppose. And an indescribable something more. The mystery perhaps of how miracles and synchronicities work. 

No one has approached me about making a movie. Yet. How did Bennett do it? After his journey, he wrote the script himself. Hmmm, she thought as she  bent to replant her peas, this time under a protective cover. 

A Welcome Slow Walk

 By Maryanna Gabriel

"Watch now how I start the day in happiness..."

Mary Oliver 

Spring in all her glory... there is hope. 

The world falls away when I am in a garden. It may not seem I am resting as I plant, but the hours pass unnoticed. Then I wonder why my back hurts at the end of the day!

With a break in some cranky spring weather, I visited the nearby Japanese Gardens for inspiration. It was built by volunteers to commemorate the peoples that contributed so much. A sign says the zig-zag bridge was a means to prevent evil spirits from entering but it also slows down the viewer.

 It worked. My walk was slow. And most welcome.

Konnichiwa. 

Shielding Oneself With Hygge

 By Maryanna Gabriel

"...if I have faith that can move mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:1

"A Room of One's Own"

It has been an intense week for many with the full moon, the eclipse, political upheavals, tornadoes, and transitions implying goodness knows what.

I have been shielding myself. 

My loving friend died this week with her dignity intact through MAID. She had Parkinson's and was in a care facility and knew it was her time. At the very last, friends gathered around her to recount stories and honour her gifts to us. Her choice is one I respect, but still it has been hard. 

For the living, we go on, such as it is, in these strange times. For me, the best way to counter death is through connecting with the beauty of life through the Danish concept of hygge. Hygge is about embracing coziness with a studied tour de force. This meant having a wood fire, lighting candles, playing inspirational music, and taking extra care with special dinners, a call to a dear friend. It meant hot baths and snuggling with the cosiest of blankets and giving myself permission to go slow and just be. It also meant getting outside and embracing the emerging seedlings and budding trees whilst envisioning serene summer spaces.

One has to make each day count after all. 

What A Way To Go

By Maryanna Gabriel 


Yesterday there was a power failure and I wondered why. A friend had a story around it. One island over lost their power and often when they do, we lose ours, and it was thought this was due to an accident. A car had driven over the cliff at the ferry terminal.

Imagine waking up, having a coffee, rushing to catch the ferry, because nobody catches ferries in a leisurely fashion, presumably having a heart attack, driving through cement pilons, then soaring over a cliff up into the air and landing in the ocean. My goodness. What a way to go. Not quite what one expects when one gets out of bed in the morning. 

They pulled the car out the next day. 

One never knows what is coming next. 

In contemplation of this strange story, I enclose some inspiration for these our precious days. 

Be Kind To Yourself

By Sophie Diener

I hope today you remember that the sky is not humiliated by its vastness

And the mountains remain 

unashamed of their height.

Mother earth and her oceans are not afraid of their size,

And the sun is not concerned if someone has to squint their eyes.

It will shine.

And it will not apologize for its light.

And like the trees that teach us -
it's okay to lose our leaves as the seasons change,

 and then come back to life.

I hope that nature teaches us to look at ourselves and be kind

I hope that we don't dim, or shrink, or fold into spaces far too tight

Yes, today, I hope when look at yourself that you are kind.

- with thanks to Stage Door Johnny

Update: It turns out the fellow was young, not old, was not at a ferry terminal but rather a dock and it was not one island over. That is the grape vine for you. A recent news item stated that the RCMP thought "speed was a factor". 

Given The Uncertainty

 By Maryanna Gabriel



This morning had me scrambling for my insurance documents. The corner of the house rattled. Again. It was a 4.5. This time it was very close. If one was trying to ignore the ominous feeling in one's pit with world news, the geology around here would say otherwise. 

Yesterday, I planted. With the sunshine, it felt like June. I love the timeless feeling as I work. The world falls away while I poke through my seed packages. For the first time in my life, I have graduated from direct planting under remay enshrouded rows to an actual greenhouse so in wonderment, I place the

Putting one's best green thumb forward. 

seeds.

There are two new patches of dirt I am also cultivating and how to arrange it is very much on my mind. Given the uncertainty in the air, it seems prudent to put one's best green thumb forward. Imagine my delight as I stumbled across a patch of pink protruding buds of rhubarb down in the lower forty. 

I also bought an electric composter. It seemed extravagant, but no, it is actually prudent and in the end will save me money. I spend so much on soil, and so much energy trying to understand how to deal with compost and the rules of garbage on a gulf island, without enciting a riot from the raccoons, to say nothing of the mice and rats that it is giving me a complete thrill. 

Jasper, the cat's tail is much better. And so it goes.