June 30th, 2022
While I love June’s long daylight hours, I can’t help feeling a tiny bit sad at the Summer Solstice signaling their ultimate shrinking. I’ll feel quite different this time in December though.
This month has had its share of challenges with me bringing COVID home from my Calgary visit. My guess is I picked it up at the airport or on the flight because no one I was in contact with while there has had symptoms. (Or admits to it anyway.) For the most part, it felt like a bad head cold with a touch of flu. The worst bit was the sensation of razor blades jammed in my throat for three days. Good old Advil helped me bypass enough discomfort to keep up on my chores and other commitments.
And one of those commitments was the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive windup reading, Saturday the 18th. What an excellent exercise in editing it is to prepare a three minute manuscript segment! And I was most excited to have the opportunity to read my work in public. It’s been far too long.
Thanks to everyone in this year’s cohort who shared snippets of their stories at the VMI online event. From the program’s start, I knew I was in good company but – WOW – every piece was brilliant in its own way. Thanks to Elee Kraljii Gardiner and Rachel Rose for welcoming us all and for their smooth facilitation of the season. And thank you to my mentor, Mark Winston, for helping me navigate the road to memoir completion.
THIS MONTH’S PHOTOGRAPH
The weeds got away on me this year and my granddaughter, Aubrey, is helping me in the garden Saturday mornings to get caught up. During our recent attack on the noxious trespassers under the grand Magnolia, we uncovered this cheerful cluster of tangerine coloured lilies tucked next to a Hosta ‘Spilt Milk’.
Sweet reward.
THIS MONTH’S SKETCH
My sweet, friendly, handsome, grand-dog, Marty, turned thirteen this month and I couldn’t resist sketching him all harnessed up.
From the photo, I can’t tell if he’s just back from a walk or waiting to head out, but either way, he looks regal and content to this Grand-dogma.
THIS MONTH’S READING LIST
- Pauline Dakin (2017) – Run, Hide Repeat
- Charles Dickens (1849) – David Copperfield