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So Long North Shore Homestead
My car is packed to capacity with necessities and belongings that help us feel settled in unfamiliar surroundings. I have office supplies, books and writing materials. I have favourite things including my stir-fry pan, pictures of the kids, candles and a fleece throw. At the end of each “temporary life” season, I wonder how I wound up with so much stuff to take home. Here I am, feeling a little cramped in the driver’s seat, waiting for my windshield to defrost so that I can take one final look at the view of Lesser Slave Lake. It’s the view I’ve enjoyed all summer. As excited as I feel to drive…
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Around Here (Slave Lake Edition)
Around here – Fog rests on the lake I see each morning, a late sunrise brightens only the treetops and bleaches the waves of Lesser Slave Lake to a glow, the caw of a lone crow echoes, and the humming bird feeder swings idle. When the sun shines on the tree out front it turns shocking yellow. Our sun umbrella is wrapped up tight, yet we hope for enough warmth to play golf one more time. A can of bear deterrent sits beside the vitamin D on the table beside the window, a healthy, young coyote trots along the edge of the tree stand and carries straight on to…
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My Two New Loves
Dear Buddy and Princess, Sorry kids, I have two new loves. When you started moving into your “big people” lives, there was plenty of room for a mom to fill and I’ve been determined to fill it with good stuff. I had to dig way back in time to reconnect with that person I was long before I had children and pull out my desire for a right-brain life. It’s in my nature that I’d fill some of that space you left behind with creative pursuits. Writing is an obvious choice for me and I don’t think the time I’ve spent with my journal or laptop has surprised anyone. But,…
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The Best Part of Our Temporary Lifestyle
This temporary lifestyle is growing on me. Living in this cabin by Lesser Slave Lake has me immersed in nature. It reminds me of visiting Grandma and Grandpa Johnson’s as a little girl before we moved to the big city. As I walk along Devonshire Beach Road, here in Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, I often think back to the smells and sounds around their place on the hill behind Castlegar, B.C. Out at Grandma’s I’d take off into the woods with my sisters and cousins to explore for hours. None of us worried about where we were going, how to get back or whether we’d encounter a bear. I’d…
