We are off an adventure today. Into the office for a catch-up morning and then, C.C. and I fly east to red and golden leaves, warmer temperatures and NO SNOW for a week.

A nephew’s wedding in Toronto and then, 5 days with our dear friends at their beautiful cottage on a lake in the woods west of Ottawa.

How lovely.

In the interim, I’ll be posting photos of Maple trees turning red and lake water shimmering in golden light.

But for today, one last shot at winter’s early descent here in Calgary as I switch from ‘go’ to ‘ease back and relax’ mode.

I’ll be seeing you occasionally here, but mostly, I’ll be soaking up the good vibes of spending time with dear friends surrounded by the beauty and wonder of Mother Nature falling with grace into autumn glory. (instead of skipping autumn and going straight to winter!)

And for those who are wondering, yesterday’s snowfall was a record for October. Not in a hundred years, they say, have we seen so much snow in one day in October!

Well I’ll be dashed if the crops ain’t thrashed, as my brother-in-law likes to say. He’s a prairie boy y’a know and he knows what he’s talkin’ about when he’s talkin’ about the weather!

Namaste.

Julius Caesar is quoted as having written in a missive to the Roman Senate after successfully winning a battle in 47 BC, Veni. Vidi. Vici. (I came. I saw. I conquered.)

After Friday night’s extravaganza with Chef Michael from the Calgary Westin Downtown, I would change it to, Veni. Vidi. Edi. Which loosely translated means, They came. They saw. They ate.

And eat we did.

It was extraordinary.

There is nothing about the evening I would change except perhaps a walk between each course.  I could not send my plate to the kitchen without cleaning it off. It was soooo good.

They arrived in a white van. Unloaded baskets onto carts that they then wheeled into our kitchen.

Roma and Jennie immediately set to work setting the table and organizing glassware and wine while Chef Michael and Sous Chef Saurabh began preparing the food in the kitchen.

I am in awe of how these four amazing individuals came into our home, created a masterpiece of a dinner and then, when they departed, left the kitchen as if it had never been used. All they left behind were the incredible memories of a delicious meal and sublime service. Of laughter. Shared times and divine tastes that lingered on my memory long after my tastebuds settled down.

Definitely a night to remember.

Particularly as it’s the first time I’ve seen my brother-in-law each salad and like it. He jokingly told Chef Michael he was coming over to the dark side. But not for long. Once the tenderloin was served he let go of his memory of salad and dove in with nary a thought for tomatoes and greens.

Even Beaumont agrees the evening was a huge success. Along with all the treats his Uncle Jim provided, at the end of the evening he snuck into the kitchen to lick the plates as they were being placed in the paniers to go back to the hotel!

As Chef Michael said in his parting remarks, the Westin is committed to giving back to community so being able to do dinner’s like this that support a cause like Inn from the Cold is really important.

Thank you Michael, Sandhu, Roma and Jennie. Your food, attention to detail, care and incredible grace left an impression in all our hearts.

And thank you the Marriott International and the Calgary Westin Downtown for believing so whole-heartedly in giving back to community and making evenings like ours on Friday night possible.

It doesn’t matter what I have, what I’ve done or do, the titles, accolades or accomplishment if in my doing and being, I do not put people first, I am empty.

My life is not richer because of what I have. It is richer, more vibrant, more ‘livable’ based on the quality of my relationships.

I am blessed to have amazing people in my life. People who have supported me over the years, through ups and downs and in’s and out’s. Who have stood beside me in dark times and celebrated with me in good times.

This evening, my beloved and I are hosting a special dinner. If we could, we would have had others at the table but this dinner is specifically limited to 8 people. (Alexis and James, Anne and Lee, T.C., M.C., CJ x2, NR and so many others – we would have found a way to have you at the table if we could have!)

Tonight’s dinner is in honour of two beautiful people — my sister Jackie and her husband Jim. It’s their birthday soiree and while not ‘big numbers’ their big hearts make it extra special.

What also makes this dinner extra special is, I’m not cooking it. And we’re not ordering in.

This evening, the Downtown Westin Hotel’s Executive Chef Michael Batke and some of his team will be preparing and serving the meal, in our home.

In July, Chef Michael participated in a lobster cook-off at the Marriott’s Annual Lobster BBQ held at the Delta Calgary South. Funds raised went to support Inn from the Cold, the organization for whom I work.

In the process, the five chefs competing in the cook-off, proffered up Dinner at Home for the successful bidders of a live auction. Now that’s community spirit and giving in action!

C.C. and I were fortunate enough to be the lucky bidders for Chef Michael to come into our kitchen and cook it up!

Tonight is the Big Dinner. (I know. I know. Caps are sooo annoying. But I am sooo excited I can’t help myself.)

It promises to be an incredible evening of extraordinary food, wine and service. The Westin’s wine guy gave us a listing of wine pairings and the incredible team at Vine Arts is fulfilling on the list. (I must remember to remind C.C. to pick up the wine!)

What’s incredible about this dinner is… I don’t have to do anything and it’s all as a result of our supporting a cause I am deeply committed to:  ending child and family homelessness in our city.

I gotta tell you, excited doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling!

And just to whet your appetite… and to tease your tastebuds just a little bit.  Bon Appetit!

My mind is rambling this morning. It’s a bit unfocussed. Flirting with thoughts without grasping on one.

Generally, meditation helps me quiet my mind. Today, my mind has a mind of its own!

I’ve decided to change the way I handle my mind when it feels unsettled. I’m going to let myself be okay with letting myself ramble. Letting the words simply appear without trying to wrangle them into some cohesive thought or idea.

I’m going to be okay with letting myself be in this space without being angst-ridden.

It’s a change for me. I generally like feeling in control. Like what I’m putting down here makes sense!

Life has a way of changing. Constantly.

This morning I arose and there is snow on the leaves of the bush outside my window.

Yesterday, I drove home along my usual route and one of the roads I take was blocked off.

Neither of these changes are permanent. But in their transitory nature I am reminded of the impermanence of life. Of the delicateness of our presence here on earth.

We are constantly changing, evolving, learning and growing. We are continually adapting and adopting new ways of being, seeing and doing.

Sometimes, we’re slow to embrace new ways.

Sometimes, we baulk. We resist. We dig our heels in. We push back.

Sometimes, we can change the way of change around us. Sometimes, we can redirect, refocus, assess and discover new ways that are different than the way we were going to find a new way that works better.

But we can’t stop change. It is part of life.

My daughter and I were talking about how every day is a brand new day for her 7 month old son. “Actually mom,” she said. “Everyday is new for each of us. None of us have ever seen this day before.”

It took me a moment to embrace that thought. To recognize that by changing my outlook on how I see today, I have the capacity to see everything in it as brand new. I’ve seen many September 14th’s in my life, but never this one today.

I like the new perspective.

Like the opportunity it brings to start afresh. To accept new ideas, information, knowledge and use the ‘new’ to inform my journey in ways I’ve never before imagined.

Change is a constant in our lives even when we fight against ‘too much change’ as if we know the right amount of change that is acceptable at any given time.

I’ve never yet figured out how much change I can handle at one time. Guess I don’t have to. All I have to do is accept, change is part of living and every day is A Brand New Day.

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This Friday Rambling deserves one of my favourite songs!

I made a list yesterday of things I wanted to accomplish.

C.C., my beloved, is away on business for a few days. It’s me and Beaumont, the Sheepadoodle and my daughter’s cat Zoë, who is visiting while her parents are away.  (Unfortunately, Marley the Great Cat has not yet returned.)

Home alone. Uncharted time. Why not make a list of things I want to accomplish?

My Home Alone ToDo List

1. Wake up when I feel like it.
2. Lay in bed and savour the morning and a latte in bed.
3. Have a leisurely bath.
4. Go to river and play with Beaumont.  (repeat as necessary later in day)
5. Go to store to buy ball to replace one lost in river. (We lost two yesterday.)
6. Dance by myself. Done. (repeat as necessary)
7. Read a book.
8. Relax and watch the river flow by.
9. Organize front hall closet.
10. Change the bedding.
11. Vacuum
12. Relax and watch the river flow by.

I accomplished 1 – 8 with ease. Jumped to No. 12 several times throughout the day and never did get to No.s 9, 10 and 11. But I did add one more item.

13.  Get creating.

My studio downstairs is not yet set up. It’s planned for September when our contractor has time to comeback and start building.

I still need to create.

And that’s the beauty of a 15ft island and the house to myself.

Not being able to access my art journals — somewhere buried in a box they wait for me to find them — I wasn’t sure what I wanted to create.

I had a ‘needs list’.

1. It had to be free flowing.
   • I didn’t want to go into anything with a plan. I just wanted to ‘let it happen’.
2. It had to be tactile.
   • I wanted to feel the work. To not paint a ‘scene’ as much as create a feeling, a sense of being immersed in the process.
3. It needed to be soft and romantic.
   • I wasn’t into harsh colours or straight lines. I wanted soft tones, muted melding together of colours and lines.

As I was scouring my ‘studio-to-be’ space, I found a box from a hairdryer I’d bought some time ago. It is sturdy, is a perfect small treasure-box size, and has a unique opening. I also found a rolled up tube of all my rice papers as well as naturally made papers and decided to bring it up along with a few paints, pens, inks and other supplies.

And now, my island is a creative mess. A centre for free-flow expression of my desire to simply be present to myself, to the process, to the wonderment and awe of letting the muse have her way with me.

I had a day all to myself yesterday. Aside from saying ‘Thank-you’ to the young woman at the checkout counter at Chapters when I went to see if they had a new issue of Somerset Studio (they didn’t but they did have a beautiful book of Embers, a collection of Ojibway meditations by the late Richard Wagamese), the only people I spoke with were other dog owner’s at the river and both my sisters on the phone.

It was a day of meditation, restoration, and creation.

A day to be present in the stillness of being one with the universe around me.

What do you do to restore your equilibrium? How do you sink into your core and connect to your creative essence? How do you enter the stillness?

I received a beautiful card yesterday in the mail.

A woman I’ve known off and on for many years, a cousin of dear friends, sent it to me.

It was an unexpectedly lovely gesture.

Beyond the beauty of the card, and her reason for picking it, just for me, was the loveliness of her words.

They touched my heart deeply.

I am blessed.

I have been writing an ‘almost daily’ blog for over 10 years. Mark Kolke @ Musings got me into it. “You need a practice,” he said. Or something to that effect. You need to get in the habit of writing everyday.

He was right.

At the time, I’d just begun working at an adult homeless shelter. A large one. Every night almost 1,000 men and women slept under its roof.

It was life changing.

Like writing an ‘almost daily’ blog.

Both have taught me about being me. About how to be authentically human. About how to hold space for others to find their way without getting in their way, or thinking I know ‘their way’. And in that space, how we can both find the common ground of being human, without having to make the other a mirror of how we express our humanity.

Last night, at a fundraiser held in support of the family emergency shelter and housing organization where I work, I met a young man who spent two summers during university working at the same adult singles shelter where I used to work.

“It changed my life,” he said.

I’m with him.

Everyday, people arrive at a homeless shelter carrying their meagre belongings along with an invisible load of angst and fear.

Everyday, shelters across the country give them a place to rest, a place to catch their breath, a place to find their way home again or a place to find a new direction.

In their passing through, they touch hearts and change lives.

Through their brokenness, fierceness, courage, unflaggable desire to live, they give those of  us who have the gift of working in such places, lessons in the power of kindness, the inescapable value of compassion and the beauty of our shared human condition in its multifaceted dimensions.

Like Evelyn, a 70 something woman who stayed at the shelter where I used to work. Cantankerous and feisty, she would occasionally take her pension cheque when it arrived, go to the Greyhound bus depot and travel across the country until her money ran out. At the end of the line she’d do something ‘that got the police called’, and voilá! She had a place to stay for the night. Inevitably, the end of the line would become the beginning of her journey back here until she felt the calling to set out on a journey to somewhere else.

When she passed away, staff discovered a treasure trove of poetry she’d written tucked away in her belongings.

Unexpected loveliness revealed.

While her mental health and addictions trapped her far away from the family she loved, her poetic words told the story of a woman whose love for them never died. A woman who recognized how her mind was playing tricks on her well-being but who never had the resources, or opportunity, to find help, until no one saw she needed help. By then, her family and the life she’d known was gone and the only place she could find where she felt she ‘belonged’, was a homeless shelter.

I received a beautiful card filled with words of affirmation yesterday.

Unexpected loveliness revealed.

An unexpected gift with words to fill my heart with gratitude.

I am so blessed.

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Thank you IM for your amazing gift. You touched my heart, stirred my soul and raised my spirits with your unexpected loveliness.