And Just Like That!

a visit to Fleurs de Villes

 June has flown! The weather here has been a mixed bag this month. A mixture of warm and cool days with occasional rains. Good weather for growing gardens and for tasting the first vegetables.

Our gardens are looking beautiful.

The strata complex, where I live, is a legacy residential complex. It is fifty years old this year. Built in 1974, it encompasses 18 acres of gardens, a complex with indoor and outdoor pools and many amenities. When we moved here, 28 years ago, there was a bar every Friday and Saturday night. People played darts,table tennis and pool. These days, we see more families moving in because the apartments are larger than what is typically being built. This year, after 8 years of renovations, we are focusing on our gardens and I really am grateful for the beauty around me.

my first subscription box

For many years, I have wanted to try the Sharing Farm subscription program but the orders were too large for us. My husband does not enjoy vegetables as much as I do. This year, a smaller order was offered. I paid my money in December and 3 weeks ago, I picked up my first weekly order. The farm is mostly run by volunteers and it supplies produce to the Food Bank and community meals. My money offsets the costs of operation. I try lots of new vegetables grown about 2km from my home and I support Food Security. It seems like a win-win proposition.

my favourite June book

I am really enjoying the Libby app from my library. I usually read about 3 books a week. It’s so convenient to read them on my brother’s old iPad. Thank you. I took my computer into the Apple Store. It’s definitely not worth repairing. Only 5 years old! I’ve got a couple of trips coming up and I like to write a travel blog. It might be on this older iPad. Over the years, it seems that I use my phone more than my computer.

Yesterday, daughter and I watched the Canada Day parade in Steveston. We walked down and we sat on a curb for 2.5 hours. I was very tired last night. I wonder what July will bring.

Postcards

yesterday’s iPhone photo

A few days ago, Materfamilias wrote about postcards and her recent trip to Lisbon. My sketching has been neglected so I have not created my own postcards but I am always surprised when my phone presents me with a memory. Twelve years ago, my mum and sister visited me in Paris. My father was still alive and in the hospital but mum had never visited The City of Light so a short visit was planned. My sister treated us to dinner at the Eiffel Tower. It was a surprise,

Years have passed…Mum is not mobile, Dad is no longer, my sister and I have aged. These twelve years have been interesting and filled with adventures that I could not imagine but they have been the time of the first aching joints, the increasing awareness of passing time and grey hair. The iPhone postcard reminds me that the 60 year old me was a lot more youthful and had so much more time ahead of her.

Years ago, at a retirement seminar, someone spoke of the “go-go, slow-go, no-go” years of retirement. It is a natural sequence although there are many factors that can influence our ability to lead active retirement lives. Covid definitely slowed us down for a few years while illness and the higher cost of living may limit retirement activities.

I think a lot these days about making small changes in my life to facilitate the slower times ahead. I’m becoming more involved in our strata and church community. As my husband becomes more withdrawn, I seek out the company of others. As literacy is my passion, book clubs and library work fill my days.

a brand new book

Libby, my library app friend, provides me with too many possibilities. I’m reading Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade. Did you know that a group of American women under the leadership of Anne Morgan, J.P.’s daughter, worked in World War 1 France to help French civilians? They trained French women to be librarians and set up the first children’s libraries in France. I’m finding the audio book a little cloying but I am really interested in the history. It reminds me of Libra’s para Pueblos that I support in Oaxaca.

We have another day of rain with below seasonal temperatures. Although I know this rain is needed, I long for blue skies. Today will be a household chore day and perhaps I will finish my audio book. I have 3 more Libby books and a package from Amazon.

 

I

A Novel Paris:The Paris Novel

H

A tasty novel!

I love French salads.

I am enjoying a sensory visit to Paris in the 1980’s. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl is a gustatory walk down Memory Lane. The first time that I visited Paris was in 1987. I travelled by myself and met up with a group led by Paul Deggan who taught Art at Capilano College. Like the heroine in The Paris Novel, I was quite inexperienced, unaccustomed to French food, with little knowledge of French Art but I had majored in French Literature so I also know a smattering of French history. For me, as for the heroine of our novel, this trip to Paris opened me up to many of life’s possibilities.

Olympia by Manet

Like our heroine, one of the first museums that I visited in Paris was La Musee d’Orsay where our guide explained about how Manet’s work was considered scandalous in his time. Our heroine, a copywriter from New York decides to solve the mystery of this model’s own paintings, lost to art history.

Since 1987, I have spent a lot of time in Paris. I have eaten and cooked many meals, visited many museums and gardens and gazed at many shop windows with longing but I will never forget my first Paris adventure. 

If you would enjoy a brief Paris escape, I would heartily recommend this book.

Pivot???

tulips for a new season

 Spring is a time of new beginnings. Easter…flowers..ideas…It seems to me that, with each new season, it is necessary to assess both our day to day activities and our longer term plans. We need to recommit to some projects and to let some others fall away. 

This week, I read a book called The Weekend. I had heard the author, Charlotte Wood, interviewed on BBC World Book Club. If you are not familiar with the podcast, you may be interested in learning about some new books and authors. Older women, in this case the characters are in their mid-seventies, are often portrayed within the family context but in The Weekend, the author focuses on the friendship between 4 women who have led very different lives.  By this age, each woman has suffered her share of disappointments and compromises. As our paths diverge, do our friendships remain relevant?

Oaxaca Lending Library

Bloomberg.com published an article on April 11, 2024 on the resistance of Oaxaca residents to “Disneylandization”. Since I first visited 15 years ago, Oaxaca has become a victim of its own beauty and cultural richness.  Fifteen years ago, I stayed in the apartment at the Oaxaca Learning Center, a
nonprofit organization that I still support. I tutored young students in English and later my sister and I helped to support the studies of  a young Zapotec girl. Mari completed her education with great success and now is a teacher and a mother. I continue to support a children’s library and I enjoy volunteering in the 
Lending Library when I visit.  Oaxaca was very hot this year and water is scarce. I stayed in a hotel where I could shower and the floors were washed daily.  I’m not sure that travel is sustainable in these days of global warming. Do my contributions offset my footprint?

Pivot? How to change while holding true to one’s values? Understanding that there are many different understandings and experiences. My 72 years have provided me with a very privileged viewpoint. As my life progresses, changes are inevitable. I just don’t know what they are.

I Wonder!

 

I’m home from Oaxaca and wondering how many more trips I will take. I’m 72 years old and Monsieur is 77 this year. I don’t think that I will feel as comfortable leaving him when he is 80. Those Covid years deprived us of a few opportunities for travel. But there are lots of wonderful places to visit close to home.

Garry Point

I wonder whether I will remain healthy into my older years. Although I never manage to lose those extra pounds, I walk regularly, keep track of my food and have good sleep habits. I just started a course for seniors to maintain agility,mobility,balance and strength. I’ve never been an athlete but I’ve always been a walker so I would like to be able to maintain my mobility for as long as possible.

I’ve always enjoyed reading.

I wonder if I will continue to enjoy an active mind.  Since I was a toddler, I have been curious. Not in an active mischievous way but in a questioning way. Once I could read there was no stopping me. I once wrote a petition in poetic form requesting a set of World Book. The family coffers never stretched that far but I love the internet because I can find the answers to so many questions.

I wonder if I have found a way to resurrect one of my old blogs.