A Season of Calm Waters

Spring has given way to early summer, and there have been many changes in my little world. Soon we will be spending more time at our lake cottage, and for the first time in several years, our schedule will not revolve around my work commitments.

A few months ago, I made the difficult decision to leave my part-time position as a Recreation Facilitator at the personal care home and move into a casual role where I can pick up the occasional shift without being tied to a strict weekly schedule. The job has become more challenging as my arthritis progresses and as the workplace continues to evolve. I still love my coworkers and enjoy working with the residents, but both the activities and the needs of the residents are changing.

Right now, there is a talented and energetic recreation team in place, and I feel comfortable knowing that I am leaving the department in good hands. It feels like the right time for this transition.

This is a job that I have truly loved, and nothing about this decision was easy. But sometimes we simply know when the time is right.

I re-entered the workforce in 2014 after a devastating illness and health crisis. Recovering required years of hard work, determination, and patience. I then retrained in an entirely new field and slowly rebuilt a life that at one point I never thought I would have again.

There was a time when I believed I would never be able to work. Instead, I found myself in a role that I genuinely enjoyed and that gave me a sense of purpose. I am proud of what I accomplished. Even on the most difficult days, I went home knowing that I had made a difference in someone’s life.

Now I find myself searching for a new normal once again. Over the past few years, I set aside many of my own interests and activities in order to conserve my physical and mental energy for work. I was content with that choice, but now I find myself asking a familiar question: What comes next?

At the moment, I am tackling a major cleanout of old work and volunteer resources and supplies collected over many years. It is surprisingly emotional. Every box seems to hold memories, reminders of projects, people, and chapters of life that have now come to an end. It is difficult to accept that many of these materials will never be useful to me again.

There is a genuine sense of loss in that realization.

At the same time, I feel hopeful. I look forward to regaining strength, exploring new interests, and discovering opportunities that fit this next stage of life.

This summer feels like a different kind of season. Not a time for striving or proving myself, but one for restoring my energy, reconnecting with the things I love, and making room for whatever comes next. Every season has its purpose, and perhaps this one is simply asking me to slow down, pay attention, and rediscover joy.

Looking for joy has long been one of my personal compass points. Not the big, life-changing kind of joy, but the quiet kind found in sunsets, time with loved ones, a dog at your feet, meaningful work, and peaceful moments by the lake. As I begin this new season, I hope to follow that compass once again.

  Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wild Strawberries

I thought I would share some pics of the wild strawberries we have at the cottage. They grow in one area of the yard, near a back corner of the cottage, like a beautiful ground cover. The area is kind of like a tiny meadow with a lot of moisture in the spring and some higher grass nearby. They attract birds, insects and other creatures that love to eat them. Wild strawberries are useful, tasty and look beautiful too.

 The berries are so very tiny but bursting with flavour and taste wonderfully sweet.  They are not something we want to gather and use for cooking or a meal because they are too tiny and really not great a quantity of them hiding in the grass. They are perfect for reaching down and having the occasional little berry nibble. 

My family went to the lake last weekend and brought me back a little handful of the strawberries and took some pictures for me.

Strawberries that in gardens grow
Are plump and juicy fine,
But sweeter far as wise men know
Spring from the woodland vine.
No need for bowl or silver spoon,
Sugar or spice or cream,
Has the wild berry plucked in June
Beside the trickling stream.
One such to melt at the tongue's root,
Confounding taste with scent,
Beats a full peck of garden fruit:
Which points my argument. — Robert Graves

Spring Gardening

 I am distracting myself with the different plants in our yard. Our daughter, Alicia, really enjoys gardening with all of its successes and a few disappointments. She plans a few extra plants most years and finds gardening to be a real stress reducer. I am hoping that our outdoor spaces will prove to be relaxing to me too during this really difficult year.

Bob and Alicia got a few plants from the store, and Alicia started a few seeds, and a few plants volunteered and came back this year.

We have barely started working on our yard. I don't think it is a week since we had nights with temperatures falling below zero. In Manitoba, it is understood that you really shouldn't be putting out your plants before Victoria Day, which will come this weekend.  Winnipeg's average first frost-free day is May 25th, and we expect the first frost of the winter around September 22nd. 

We have to start plants inside or consider using plants with very short growing periods and plan how to protect them if there is an early frost. Trees and perennial plants have to survive extremely cold winters.  I am sure its year will be different in the garden, but it will still be a retreat for us. With all the Covid issues in our city, I don't think we will be wandering around shopping for our regular annual plants, so we will try and be creative this year.

I will miss being out in nature at our cottage. I don't think I will get to our lovely island Lake Cottage for months, and when I do get there, it is going to be hard moving around and even just getting from the dock up to the cottage. I am planning on creating a few restful places to enjoy and relax in our city yard. The family is doing most of the work, but I will put real thought into how to make more of our yard more accessible for me this year and for the future. 

Let's call these "before " pictures, so hopefully, you will be much more impressed when I share more photos over the next couple of months. Bob put in a lot of work today, and it already looks a lot better than you see here.

Planters of Coleus hanging off our front porch railing.

One of 3 hanging Begonias from Costco

Two new Clematis vines for our backyard

Chives divided and shared by the neighbour.

A new little plum tree going to the cottage.

Tulips at the front of our house are just opening up.

A single red tulip among the yellow.

What happens to tulips when rabbits visit your yard.

Wave Petunias from Costco

Looking up under my 50-year-old apple tree.

A planter for a picnic table

Lilies planted last year & a couple of Dust Millers that self-seeded.

A sad Ivy that doesn't look like it will survive.

The little tree we brought home from the lake last fall to use at Xmas 

Some garlic cloves from the kitchen.

The change from storm and winter to serene and mild weather, from dark and sluggish hours to bright and elastic ones, is a memorable crisis which all things proclaim. 

                                                        ~Henry David Thoreau