Seamus Heaney

My date, from The Third Annual Willow Manor Ball,

Poet, Seamus Heaney

is a finalist for the 

Griffin Poetry Prize

Canada's most generous poetry award.

His submission is called

Human Chain.

When asked about the mournful quality of the poems he replied:

"You get to a certain age and several of the people who were fixed stars in your life begin to fall. You yourself don’t have to be shaken by mortal danger in order to feel your mortality. A couple of poems in the book which end up being among the most elegiac were written before my stroke — I’m thinking of “The Baler” and “In the Attic.” But no doubt the stroke heightened the elegiac quotient, although it also brought on a surge of writing energy and in the months after it I wrote a lot of the things included in Human Chain."

I'll just be popping along to the bookstore now.

Good Luck Seamus!

!

I have so resisted talking about this...

but yes...I watched Oprah's last show.

Never a regular watcher, I have to say, I was impressed.

Mostly by the lack of everything...guests, gifts, celebs, hyperbole!

And...the fact that she said one thing that

went straight to my heart.

"Worthiness is our birthright."

I know for a lot of people this will not resonate...

...no matter..it did for me.

Thank you Oprah...for trying your very best, every day.

I truly believe that is what she did.

Inspiration

Taking colour inspiration from this...

this is my soon-to-be

summer garden.

We have had a real late start weather-wise,

so they still have some filling-out and growing to do.

but I am pleased with the overall effect.

I think it's going to be pretty.

The Art of Being Ashamed

Call me crazy,

but I think we have lost the art of feeling shame.

And yes, I dare to call it an 'art' because in

'art's' truest definition, it makes us think and grow

and can serve to improve the condition of society.

When we 'slip up' (and we all do),

that bubbling-up sensation we feel in our chest;

the reddening and burning of the cheeks;

all happens to provoke the mind into fully considering

the consequences of one's actions, and stand sentinel should we ever consider repetition.

The reason I raise this is because during our wonderful weekend wedding

at The Shore, I noticed this:

It made me so sad.

So many rules and regulations.

And all because we can't be trusted to behave ourselves,

or in the case of misbehaviour, feel embarrased enough not to

repeat.

Dreams

Can we make our dreams come true?

Once upon a time there was a little girl

who was fortunate enough to spend her summers

at the beach.

She always dreamed that when she married

the wedding would take place on that very beach.

Years passed, she met Prince Charming and plans were made

a year in advance of the event.

Then, as the event approaches,

we endure the wettest, coldest Spring in decades.

However, the little girl, now bride-to-be, 

holds onto her dream...and lo

as the day arrives...

not a cloud in the sky...

and so, with only the softest of ocean breezes,

preparations begin...

friends and family assemble...

and in the warmest of sunshine, the dream plays out...

yes, I think...when we truly know what it is we want,

and we hold fast, and believe...

dreams do come true.

Rosé

Rosé

for me...

signifies Summer...

it's fresh

slightly sweet...

a little bit saucy...

just my speed!

Canadian/English Spring Day

I couldn't get out of the door fast enough this morning.

It has finally stopped raining and with the

fog and soft air, it just smelled like an English spring day.

So, camera in hand, off I went:

Fort Niagara, across the Niagara River was barely visible.

This homeowner has obviously been reading this year's garden fashion magazines

'black' and white flowers are the latest thing! 

All this rain has sent the tulip magnolia petals to the ground

making pink carpets of the sidewalks.

Not quite all the trees uprooted by the storm two weeks ago have been cleared away just yet.

Don't you just love how life hangs on regardless!

Someone's pretty blue and green garden...

and clumps of wildflowers

and petit tulips growing by the side of the road.

Then there were these two beauties, just itching to get into the water, I'll bet!

jet-boat rain slickers,

 and boats waiting for the bus-loads of tourists to arrive,

and Charlotte's web highlighted by the morning dew.

Construction is almost complete on the site where three building burned down a year ago last October...the day V. arrived in town!

You would never know they hadn't been here all along.

So that was my morning today...how about you?