The covid lockdown began on March 17, 2020. On March 20, I began piano lessons. I took piano lessons from age 6-10, before switching to violin (a mistake), then quitting.…
Everything in life is a trade-off. Everything has pros and cons, advantages and pitfalls, clouds and silver linings. I honestly can’t think of anything this rule doesn’t apply to, including…
My heart is heavy. My heart is broken. Boomer cannot stay with us. We can’t even foster him while we search for his forever home. One of our dogs is…
“How much do I know? I’m young and unschooled Bet l’m younger than you And even Jesus would Never forgive what you do I want to ask you one question…
I get periodically overwhelmed with the suffering of humanity. Spiritual practice should, and eventually does, bring a measure of calm abiding. And while I have practiced, and my inner strength…
This handsome boy is Boomer, the newest addition to our family. I saw him a couple of times outside the library, scrounging food. He was quiet and meek, friendly but…
2018: Titles and reading projects that were languishing on my List. 2019: The year of the biography. The first time I created a reading plan for the year. 2020: I…
Tl; dr: Greetings Island is the best e-greeting-card site. * * * * I love greeting cards — birthdays, anniversaries, thank yous, “glad you’re my friend”. I used to love…
I’ve always loved working at home. I loved it when I first started writing fiction and working as a freelance proofreader in 1985, and I loved it even more when…
When we were in Salt Spring Island, we went to the Saturday Market, and I instantly fell in love with this man’s work. Salt Spring artist Lorne Tippett uses wine-barrel…
We had a bit of excitement last week, and I realized I shared it only on Facebook. I’m sure wmtc readers want an answer to the burning question, What is…
Remember the severe hives I complained about? That condition is now officially chronic idiopathic urticaria. Translation: long-term hives of no known cause. After struggling through our mini-vacation in Victoria and…
Recently I was unable to play piano for three weeks — a combination of the unbearable hives (now about 75% gone!) and being on vacation. Since beginning Pianote’s “Foundations” course…
I am so grateful to be home, and to have several more days off before returning to work. All four of us are happy to be back. What a joy…
I’ve spent the last two days reading, blogging, scratching, and occasionally eating and sleeping. There were other things to do on Salt Spring Island, but I was too uncomfortable to…
Today’s big news is that the GP Dermatologist in Campbell River will see me on the day we are driving through that town, on our way home. Which is two…
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times? Perhaps not as dramatic as all that, but yesterday was a tale of two days, for sure. We…
I am having the surreal experience of looking through photographs of the wildfire devastation in Washington State, Oregon, and California, and seeing the names of towns where much of my…
This is the time when wmtc turns into a travel journal, which I write almost entirely for myself, for a record of my travels. First of all, we were supposed…
As my Facebook friends know all too well, I have been struggling with severe urticaria — hives — for two months. I have been going out of my mind with…
