Karen Toews
Scripting Vibrant Living Beyond An Empty Nest
Small details matter
One of my garden tasks recently was supporting this very tall sunflower plant. It was about 20 inches tall a couple months ago, had flopped over and was almost touching the ground. I wrapped a little green gardening tape around it along with a little stick to support it (wishing now I’d snapped a photo.) And I prayed a few words to the Designer of that sunflower plant, that it would not lose heart but keep growing.
The stalk kept growing and growing – a regular Jack and the Beanstock, a.k.a. Sunflower plant.
A couple weeks later the sunflower heads were overpowering the stalk, the little stick was ineffective. I wanted to help this plant to its next stage of glory.
I walked into the woods back of our house to find a fallen tree-pole the height of the sunflower stalk, about 2 inches in diameter; cleaned off the little spiky branches to make it easier to handle. I filled a bucket with water, started soaking the soil (almost hard as cement) around the base of the stalk , and used a garden fork to loosen the soil and pull out the stalk. As good fortune would have it, a fair-sized rock had been down by the roots which I used as extra ballast as I pushed the tree-pole, more soil and the hefty sunflower stalk into the hole.
I piled up more soil, added more water – and said another prayer.
With a little help, small things can become beautiful. A thought not limited to plants.
Pondering Pre Camino
What I know for sure.
I’m linking up with three fine women: sister-in-laws, friends since childhood. Hiking and fitness have been part of all our lifestyles long before the Camino plan.
I am blessed with good health and fitness; and thankful for my family background of physical activity, mental and emotional endurance – bestowed with only a small inheritance of arthritis! Physical therapy is helping a crabby knee from my former passion for long-distance running – and I am paying attention to pick up my feet. Not shuffling along. A recent massage reminded me to pay more attention to tight hip flexors and abductors. And now that cooler days are here I’ll be more inclined to ‘sweat it out’ in the sauna.
Considerate and seasoned Camino friends have recommended guidebooks and are sharing personal tips. I have a schedule of our route and the distance for each day’s walk from one lodging to the next (double digit distances for 9 days.) Gratefully, our overnight bags are shuttled from one auberge to the next.
But until I land in Castelo Portugal and get my feet on the ground, the reality of the Camino trail is unknown. Weather, culture, terrain, the food, my endurance, etc. are the reality markers for hiking the 196Km distance.
This multiple day hike is through beautiful and challenging terrain. My husband, bless him, is gung ho in encouraging and supporting me. He won’t physically be along the route – as in our marathon days – but he’s been cheering me on and will to the finish line. Thanks, Derryl.
In committing to previous challenging and unknown tests I’ve come to expect the thrum of the soul and mind that jostles back and forth between – you’ve got this girl and what do you think you’re trying to do ?!
It’s the tipping edge between choosing always cosy and comfortable , and nudging towards adventure.
I’m grateful to these three good souls for inviting me to share this Camino adventure with them.
Carmen Routhier – decked out in full gear.
Nancy Allen
Ruth Vandenberg
And I am okay with what I know for sure.
Mom, Please Just Write it Down
My daughter Renee and I were driving to our favourite blueberry farm for our first picking of the year. She and I live across the yard from each other (which is great on many levels) so we have the opportunity to talk about something whenever both of us are available. But this conversation on the road landed deeper. i.e. This really matters to me. It’s important for our family.
“Mom, I know you’ve written a lot of material over the years. About your forefathers, where you grew up, your adventures both before and after you married Dad; up to the present time in your senior years and still living life large. You’ve posted some of it in your blog or elsewhere, and we’ve talked about your challenge of trying to figure out how to wrap up and organize it all. These are memorable stories, records of past and present family that I want to read and keep for my children and future generations.”
“Mom, they don’t have to be perfect. Please just write them down and get it out there.”
How well Renee knows the angst – and procrastination – I’ve shared with her trying to make sense and order of the stuff I’ve written. This was just what I needed to hear: a wave of relief – permission, really – to stop overthinking about categories and time frames. To just do it.
Both of us had a productive time in the berry patch. And thanks to Renee for the extra bonus of the day: permission and encouragement to just write my stories and send them out!!
So please stay tuned.. thanks for reading,
XO Karen
Camino Training
I picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi Karen.” It was Nancy, one of my husband’s six sisters. Our families have known each other since childhood and as adults especially enjoy our relationship. Nancy and I chat once in a while, usually about something specific: i.e. can I get your yogurt recipe? or making plans for an occasional family get together.
This call was also specific.
“Three of us sisters are hiking the Portuguese Coastal Camino in October – we have room for a fourth. We would like to have you join us if you are interested.”
Without hesitation I responded: “Oh yes I am interested and I would love to join you!”
I didn’t ask about the specific dates – sometime in October was enough info for that. And I didn’t ask about the cost. My husband and I usually chat before we commit to these kind of expenditures but I just knew he’d agree this plan was a great fit – both for my passion and that sharing it with these three walking partners would be a compatible fit.
Twenty years ago, together with my husband Derryl, our love and ability for running and racing provided travel opportunities in Canada, the United States, the U.K – even South Africa! It was a wonderful season of training and intensity with a close-knit running community: but like many of our vintage the running passion was eventually substituted with hiking, cycling, paddling. (And for my husband – motor-biking!).This transition coincided with our daughter, son-in-law and three children who set the challenge and example for long distance hiking by conquering the Appalachian Trail in 2014. Joining them for sections of their epic hike fanned my flame for hiking and especially going long. Thanks kids!
Over the span of hiking years I’ve had so many wonderful hikes I’ve wished to do – and did – i.e. Mt. Katahdin, ME; Pollett’s Cove, Nova Scotia; Fundy Footpath, New Brunswick; Gaff Point, only 20 minutes from home….
The Camino never made it to my list. It didn’t have to be – a spontaneous YES was triggered by my sense of adventure and opportunity for a hiking challenge, to walk on a country and continent I’ve not yet seen.
Years ago I did read an interesting, quite fascinating, book I’ll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair (written by Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck, published in 2017) which I had found intriguing. Books, articles, media interviews and movies have portrayed how Camino pilgrims often have a physical and spiritual experience – perhaps especially so on the routes with historical religious sites. I am certain my physical experience will reveal challenges and rewards: and will be observant of spiritual and emotional effects. So from now until the end of September I’m just “gettin ‘er done” – just plain discipline and motivation will. Some days this week in Nova Scotia have been so hot (33 degrees Celsius in the shade) – I go to a nearby lake, put on my flotation belt and “run” in the water… two days ago my son joined me for a beach walk ….another day I paddled with friends for about three hours. Great cardio and upper body workout. It’s staying in the game!
So now it’s following through on the physical and mental training that comes with embracing any new challenge. I am excited about it. I’d like to share the journey with you.
Thank you for reading – if something is calling you to jump on board, Go for it !!
Love and God Bless,
Karen
Facing Reality
Hello to you all, my present and past readers.
It’s been more than a year since I published my last blog post: “It’s Never Too Late.” Yikes, this isn’t just a little glitch in good intentions: it’a an out-and-out call for “Karen – a whole year, what’s up with this, ?! ”
Well, I’ll begin using the example from my previous life: the physical and mental drive for training and running races energized me. I got it done. Thrived on it. I followed through. When Derryl and I moved to Nova Scotia from Alberta (we LOVE it here) we established circles of connections, be it socially or work or play. Life happily rolled along: becoming even more fulfilling when family realized the pleasures and opportunities of Nova Scotia’s South Shore and came to join us. Adding time and space for this gift has been a most wonderful surprise and easy adjustment. Yes, I’ve still been writing occasionally but what calls my name the loudest now in my 70’s is living the experience (be it with my family or friends) with full health and energy and plans for more. I am NOT throwing my family under the bus for my not sitting at my desk writing, because the truth is I am using my daily energy and focus for this living experience – and yeah, honestly, I lack self discipline for things that are not my favourite. Whatever the reason why – here’s the bottom line.The motivation and investment of everything required to finish writing, editing, publishing and distributing is more than what my mental bandwidth and world of activity can pull off. A book just isn’t going to happen. Full stop. Well, there’s another thing too: my Enneagram personality type 7 doesn’t bode well with the same routines or activities: I look for and like to try new things. So this fits.
Yes, sharing this makes me somewhat disappointed but I’m not entertaining embarrassment or shame. Life happens. Acknowledging this is a deep breathe of fresh air for me: but doesn’t wipe out the creativity and pleasure of writing stories of my family, my forefathers or life’s current happenings: and I plan to do this through my blogposts at https://karentoews.com/ .
Other people’s worlds and stories are of interest to me – here’s hoping some of mine will offer that to you and others. Please share with others if you so wish.
Happy to be back on the blogging scene.
thanks for reading, see you soon!
XO,
Karen
It’s Never Too Late…
November 21, 2019 my daughter Renee sent me an email: “Mom, I read this quote of Anne Lamott’s today: thought it could encourage you to keep going with your writing.”
I am a fan of Anne Lamott’s writing and no-nonsense philosophy about life (maybe you are too and like me, also save her quotes) – Lamott didn’t disappoint.
“What if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and never got your memoir or novel written, or you didn’t go swimming in those warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.” Wow, a lot of good stuff there!
In 2019 I was 66. “Yes Anne. I got the message“. The part about the jiggly thighs didn’t apply but I had not yet written the memoir: (a.k.a. the life stories I’d been wanting to write.)
I wrote Renee back: “I am not going to let my heart be broken – I will not let that happen. You read it here.” She responded: “Oh, big hugs to you Mom. You have a big juicy beautiful life, tell us about it.”
In 2024 Renee and her husband moved from two provinces away to live “next door” (oh happy day!) and I threw myself into making new living experiences with my closest friend now living just across the yard! My writing resolution faded; slipping back to minimal spurts. My Enneagram personalty type 7 – whose default is jumping from one thing I like to do (think fun!) on to the next thing – didn’t help much.
New confidence and encouragement were helpful touchpoints but my writing progress was slow. And sporadic. I wrote several pieces – even paid good coaches for some support. But I had a long ways to go.
Finally. August 25/25, I woke up to my writing senses: declaring in my journal: “I am 72 and it’s time to make this happen, however it’s going to look.“
To help get my mojo back I’m writing this post for my friends and readers who have faithfully read my past writing. Your time and interest is much appreciated. (Fingers crossed that you’ll stay!)
I’m also facing up to the part of Lamott’s quote re: “perfectionism and people-pleasing “. I’m thinking that by the stage and age where I’m at I should let these go!
Call it an all or nothing, go big or go home kind of event: kind of similar to two decades ago when I committed to running a marathon or other event. I registered with a fee, drove or booked the flight, planned the accommodations, trained in every kind of weather. And I showed up! From my vantage point now, that whole scenario seems easier than keeping my fingers moving on the computer keys and hoping for a focused mind!
A return to those good ol’ running years is too late. However, my desire and intention for retaining and sharing life stories for my family and beyond is more meaningful than the medals and racing bibs gathering dust in boxes in the closet.
So again, I’m giving my writing project another chance: Ready, Set…. GO!!!
Thank you to my close friend and cheerleader, Renee. T
Thank you to you, my readers, permission granted to help keep me accountable!
Love and God Bless!
Karen
A new house….plus SO much more
April 13th marked one year since Derryl and I moved into our new house. We’re in our seventies: I think this is our last house, albeit I’ve said that before – including the house before this one – which I loved; where I was totally content. As shared in a previous blog, there was a plan afoot that our daughter and son-in-law would some day move from their home in Montreal to Nova Scotia to be closer to us. The idea, the for-realness of having family move here hadn’t been in my wildest dreams. Other than a two-year span when our son and family lived in Nova Scotia, our two children and their families have never lived near us. So as this plan percolated, just to be prepared Derryl got busy designing a house to build for the two of us. And the ‘kids’ – Renee and Damien- could live in our home. With Derryl’s good track record for finishing projects he begins, I started wrapping my head around the notion we’d be ‘making home again.‘
Renee and Damien coordinated the timing for their move from Montreal, factoring in their three young-adult kids’ education and on-going housing for staying in Montreal. Both Damien and Renee work virtually, but other details included wrapping up their Montreal life, i.e. saying good-bye to friends and favourite haunts, confirming Renee’s steps for finishing her Master’s program at Concordia University.
On our home front; Derryl organized his life and work schedule to include building a beautiful, one-level home tucked behind huge oak and pine trees, on the other side of our driveway. And grateful I wasn’t under pressure to move quickly, I started purging excess stuff; transporting household belongings by car back and forth, carrying something every time I walked to the new house – and my heart gradually moved from one house to the new one.
The aha moment – this is home! – landed after we moved the contents of our bedroom, slept overnight and woke up to the familiar view of the LaHave River.
Having critical kitchen items on site – i.e. espresso machine, toast and jam, granola and yogurt – sealed the deal. Welcome home!
The next two months we thoroughly emptied the house, washed windows, swept away dust and cobwebs. On June 15th, after a long day on the road, Renee and Damien drove up the driveway.
The plan was really happening: Renee’s blogpost shares some of her initial thoughts and impressions .
It wasn’t hard for Derryl and I to shift into communal living with the Tougas’. We’ve shared space before. Hiking-tenting for a couple weeks on the Appalachian Trail; several months when they stayed with us while the family transitioned back to Canada from the U.S. – then there were a few weeks together when they were ‘stuck’ at our house at the outset of the COVID kaffuffle. I reckon those extended periods of positive co-habitation encouraged us for this ‘big hurrah’ of togetherness. As family and as friends, we would and could share our world. And this Sanctuary property – its warmth of life, love and laughter – has evolved through friendship, honesty, and respect for each other’s privacy and space.
Cooking and sharing meals, picking berries, hiking and camping, walking on beaches, going to markets – wonderful together-fun when wired with similar genes! Week-end movie nights and sports on the big screen; waving hello to each other across the yard; helping and being helped with chores or skills we don’t have ourselves. i.e. full disclosure for Derryl and I, how did we manage before without Damien’s computer, internet – technical support?! So far, keeping my cookie jar full with his favourite (oatmeal, chocolate chip) and a bowl of home-roasted peanuts handy for quick snacks have been sufficient payoffs!
To complete the family circle, late summer-September our son Brad began his process of moving from the U.S. back to Canada. Destination: here at the Sanctuary!
A space above the coach-house style garage was waiting to be developed. A fast-track construction project kicked into gear: since this photo was taken it has developed into a sunshiny suite: a way-station for Brad and a room for Joah – one of his three young-adult kids – to join him when not away at university.
Sharing kindred passions.
“Dad and Brad” on a jobsite last fall.
A smaller house is suiting me just fine. Cleaning has never been my favourite gig – but I do love “hubbub-space” in my kitchen. We’re making up for all the years our family wasn’t part of that hospitality action: our family Christmas was a positive kick-off!
Now it’s spring: Renee’s passion for gardening – and aptitude for organization-design for such – is creating a system to the garden. A VERY welcome shift from my helter-skelter style – I love being able to ask: “what do you want me to do?!” Where there’s building involved, Derryl and Renee are all in – so heart-stretching for me at the other end of the garden plot to hear their chatter.
An acquisition for Damien and Renee since moving here: a “side-by-side” to explore Nova Scotia’s myriad off-road trails… which is also useful for hauling bags of garbage to the bottom of the driveway for municipal collection. Thanks, Damien!
As the months and years stretch ahead – I’m SO grateful for the everyday-ness of family living here.Thank you God for this blessing.
And thank you for reading my story.
A late review – our twelve days of Christmas
Except for a few deck lights and red balls with mini lights wrapped around my bamboo tree, Christmas decor is stashed away in storage. The poinsettia and some shortbread, fruitcake, nuts and cereal snack mix are reminders of the Sanctuary’s 12-day Christmas celebration. Coordinating all the family’s schedules to be here at the Sanctuary for a few days overlap, played out as strategically designed by all those concerned. No small feat. Well done, all. Photos and memories are lasting reminders of the fun and family fellowship we enjoyed. Wonderful.
Before the family festivities began, we hosted our annual friends-neighbourhood brunch December 22nd (following our pattern: the Sunday before Christmas). Once again, a wonderful mix of conversation, laughter and yummy food. So thankful for our community. Dec. 21st we got an unusually big dump of snow (especially for here in Nova Scotia): what fun to look out the window and see our visiting grandson constructing a snowman to welcome guests we were expecting the following day. Thanks Joah for building this fella – and also directing brunch traffic the next day.
December 23rd the celebration around our table honoured our son Brad’s 47th birthday. Leg of lamb, roasted potatoes… the whole deal….ending with chocolate for dessert. Every year we’re together there’s a celebration on his day! Not his fault that his parent’s family planning was a non-issue.
To finish off the birthday party Brad had a delicious gift for us: the cheese on the right. My Swedish father, and Scottish mother who embraced his Scandinavian cuisine, called this golden specialty Gjetost – the brand of the company who imported it. By definition though, the cheese is identified as Brunost. (Sadly, this is Brad’s only birthday photo. My apologies, Brad – what kind of Mom am I?)
Here’s the story behind this gift. For readers who have acquired a taste for this flavourful cheese, it makes perfect sense I would go to great lengths to track down the closest source in the country. Very few Scandinavian immigrants made Nova Scotia their home: most chose to settle in the prairie provinces. Well, it so happened that in December, Brad was in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for a couple weeks on a Christmas-work-music-tour. The Google search for specialty cheese shops connected me to The Bulk Cheese Warehouse: a phone call placed my order; another call to my son and the plan was done. The two chunks he brought home – compliments of a kind friend he met – was a most delicious Christmas gift!
The snow kept falling! A white Christmas is wonderful (even for the clean-up crew) and Laurent’s arrival on the 24th was perfect timing! How fun for me to join these two grown-up grandsons for a woods hike – fingers crossed that I can do this for many more years!
December 25th: a pleasant, relaxed kind of Christmas Day. Started with brunch at our house ……
…..then a woods walk with Renee,
… later a delicious supper at the Tougas. Gathering with family around their table – and in their house where Derryl and I lived for over 13 years filled my heart and soul beyond any gift under the tree.
Pears poached in wine for dessert.
A couple free-fall days after that were a welcome respite: for cooks and the calorie intake. Time to get outside in the snow and soak in the sunshine!
….and inhale some brisk sea air @ Rissers Beach.
….and after daylight hours, time for noisy Dutch Blitz! Too much for Pippen – looking for the door!
Then it was the last day of 2024: blessed with perfect weather for our annual Hirtle Beach-Gaff point hike.
Group photo: Damien, Laurent, Joah, me, Derryl, Iris, Ciel, Renee, Brienne, Ian.
Back to the Sanctuary – a delicious taco supper before a rousing “wrap up the old year and look ahead to the new” conversation around the bonfire. So much laughter – and thoughtful contemplation.
Then it was off to our house to watch Junior hockey on the big screen.
Too bad the Canadian team lost the hockey game 😦 but all in all we’d had a grand together-family-time before the first of the grands had to leave next day for home.
Three grands were still on site for a few more days – I brought out a game I bought several months ago in hopes to introduce it to my family over the holidays. Crokinole: I grew up with it, haven’t played it for decades. Mission accomplished! Great fun.
I could wrap up with “then life started moving back to normal” but I’m discovering ‘normal’ doesn’t apply to my present season. But then again, if normal means busy with some travel plans already in place and spontaneity for other adventures (that’s my Enneagram 7 personality!), life will back to normal!
Either way, I’m up for it.
2025, here I come…..
Thank you for scrolling and reading through this long photo story. I’m taking steps to change my blog platform as my intentions for it have evolved into another direction. Please stay tuned, I appreciate your interest and connection.
Love and God bless your 2025!
Karen
Foto-fest: 4 months with family, friends and nature
What a ride my “summer-autumn” season has been. Gardening, visiting, cooking and accommodating guests, not willing to miss the glories of wonderful weather, being in and feeling nature…..interspersed with trips to the airport picking up or dropping off travellers. Not a roller coaster, more like a magnetic levitation : the term used for trains with magnetic fields to propel them along quickly, yet with stability. I admit there were moments I felt off balance with all the kaffuffle, but like the trains; I stayed on track. And the great memories are worth it.
This photo story isn’t chronological but a random, spontaneous style much like how life happened. Photos are first: followed by captions.
Such glorious summer weather for gardening and its pleasures: wonderful to share the work and wonder with daughter Renee – now my closest neighbour – who’s also entranced by the joys of nature. Thanks to her I observed in our garden the cycle of the monarch larvae, chrysalis, through to butterfly stage.
So delighted with two raspberry crops, early summer and fall – in spite of my willy-nilly cane pruning last fall!
Family from our western Canadian roots, Trent and Shauna Forsberg. Prairie people – including Derryl and I – are always keen to walk a beach. Great talks with these special folks.
Dale and Ella Unland: Alberta friends we’ve known forever. SO much laughter and reminiscing. Heart-filling.
On a perfectly beautiful day I joined the Sole Mates (hiking group of women of similar-vintage) for a ferry ride across the bay from Chester, Nova Scotia to Tancook Island. Met by a friendly local who toured us around – some of us sitting in the back of her half-ton truck (one of the few vehicles on the island) we saw the island’s highlights: including a small gift shop where I discovered a thin Tancook 101 booklet. At the time of printing, one of the details listed in “everything you need to know about life on Big Tancook Island” was that six students were enrolled at the elementary school. An island with a vibe all its own? Of a truth.
Dream come true for Renee and I. Hiking in to Pollett’s Cove (Cape Breton Island) , tent overnight and hike back out the next day. We had so much fun…. loved it. Her video version tells the full story of this fun trip!
How blessed: all of us love outdoor activity. Derryl, Brad and I hiking near Sussex, NB. Cycling with Brad near Chester, NS.
Before moving to Nova Scotia in 2007 I hadn’t a clue how much water there was here! The rivers, the lakes, the Atlantic Ocean. I LOVE it: the best stand-in for the open skies of the prairies.
LaHave River: the body of water I see from our house and yard – and walk along, on the secondary road at the end of our driveway. I will NEVER tire of this gift. Nor take for granted the gift of paddling my kayak on this river (from which this photo was taken) and look up where our home, the Sanctuary sits – on the left behind that front row of white houses. This summer a seal has been bobbing up and down on this stretch of water, but never staying up long enough for me to capture on camera!
Unlimited beaches to enjoy in full sun. Or watch at early evening, in awe, waiting for the moon to rise.
…..endless shorelines to explore walking, kayaking, cycling.
Nature’s paintbrush dressing up our backyard, splashing across the sky and over the LaHave. Breathtaking.
Now it’s November, dealing with dry oak leaves wanting to swish through the door, putting ‘things in order’ in the garden. Planting garlic in a couple of days.
I am blessed, I am grateful.
Thanks for reading, Karen.
Home is ….
I am now ready to write the next instalment of a story that began about 12 years ago while hiking in the woods with our daughter Renee. The recap: Renee shared the intention she and her husband Damien wanted to move to live near her Dad (Derryl) and I in our older years, to spend time together and help us as we aged. (The full story I’ve written here. ) As she and I walked under a canopy of trees, feeling alive with fresh air and exercise, this was a “wow, that’s awesome” moment: one I carefully tucked away for safe keeping: thinking its unfolding was way off yonder in the future.
Life happened for several years – and with Renee and Damien’s steadfast intention this wasn’t just a cool idea – they moved to the Sanctuary June 15/24. I am truly getting my head and heart wrapped around the wonderful reality of how this looks and feels.
Backing up. In early 2022 the “family-together-plan” gained momentum: planning how to make it happen. True to his style, Derryl the builder plunged into the planning for sub-dividing our existing property, and then building another house for us two ‘getting-older’ people. Fitting the project into an existing schedule of work projects, this house-build proceeded over a matter of time, a factor in our favour.
Before completion, the house-in-progress came in handy for visitors satisfied with make-shift window coverings, a comfortable bed and a working bathroom. A great practice run for future holiday and celebration gatherings.
Bit by bit, box by box, Derryl and I moved our belongings to the new house. SO much purging (a good thing), deciding what we really needed for a smaller space (a harder thing), we pecked away at it. April 14, 2024 Derryl and I “moved into our bedroom” (although more stuff had yet to be moved from the other place!) and installed the sign that has hung by our front door since our Alberta days.
We lived in the new house, a.k.a. slept and ate there, for three nights leading up to a short trip to attend a memorial service for Derryl’s Dad. These three days were long enough to discover that yes, the view from our bedroom was different from our previous one, and it was also a beautiful one! Thank you to Derryl for his strategic – brilliant – house-positioning.
On our return from the short trip away, walking through the front door into the new house the sense of THIS IS HOME was so palpable it surprised me.
And now the Tougas – Renee and Damien – are in their home. I love seeing how these two ‘creatives’ have made that space their’s – it’s beyond satisfying, when I look at their place and know by what they say, and how they’re settling into this location, they’re both happy here. In the past they’ve often stayed for short (sometimes longer) times with us on this property: now we have the comfort, pleasure, of knowing we can see them tomorrow, and the next day, and….that their three young adult kids – our grandkids – will be coming to see them and we’ll see them too!!
Some views of daily living across the yard from each other. Renee is creating order from the previous “rambunctious” chaos of the perennial sort-of-English garden alongside their deck. (i.e. my spontaneous planting over the last several years.)
Hoeing weeds in the “garden that has vegetables, raspberries and other stuff”, calls my name. It has, or is still, producing some greens, beans, cucumbers, garlic, a few onions, some herbs – and the odd raspberry off a patch that has potential. So thankful Renee is a researcher – my ‘go how you feel’ method isn’t reliable.
Shared appreciation for Monarch butterflies: their flitting about, watching caterpillars feeding on the milkweed, the excitement discovering the chrysalis below, tucked in the holly plant.
More things we love:
Absorbing nature’s beauty, working with technique and tools to share her experiences with others as seen through the lens has been Renee’s passion. Capturing the photo below from the vantage point of their deck, I say thank you, Renee and Damien for moving here. May there be many years of fun and activities together before the older people get really old! On that note: Damien didn’t get a lot of air time here. I know him well enough to understand that’s generally the way he likes it. But truth be told, I love our son-in-law: hearing him from over yonder faithfully practicing his guitar, his prompt answers and solutions for our (frequent) techie challenges, giving him a wave when we’ve happened to both be out walking along the river . And ever grateful for the time spent and things he’s taught me as a back-packer hiker.
June 20th – around the Sanctuary’s fire pit to enjoy the moon (and swat a few mosquitoes).
Family sharing in our everyday living … this is home.
Karen Toews 