Which are you?

I just read that, when faced with something dire, a person will fight.

Or a person will fly.

Sometimes, we don't know which one we are until the climactic moment.

Allow me to illustrate.

My bedroom was across and down the hall from the bathroom.

And I wasn't an 'early-to-bedder'.

These two facts will become relevant . . .

I had been reading.

Something I did every night.

For a very long time.

I finally…

Foreground: Ranch. Background: Hill.

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On the Stringam Ranch, there was a hill.

A large hill.

It had old machinery parked on top.

We called it the…

I am bilingual.

Oh, not in the way you imagine.

My second language really isn't that practical.

Truth be told, I don't even know what I'm saying.

But the fact remains that I can speak another language.

Maybe I should explain . . .

My kids and I loved spending time at Fort Edmonton Park.

It's a stroll through Edmonton's history.

There's a bona fide re-creation of an 1846 fort.

And a small town.

Comprised of 'dated'…

Where did your imagination take you?

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Mom was washing the floor.

Something she did often.

Because.

I should mention also that, when Mom washed the floor, she WASHED the…

Okay, you have to use your imagination here.

Picture those hills covered in snow.

And kids. And toboggans . . .

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It's nearly 30 degrees Celsius (86 F) outside.

Okay, for those of you living in warmer climates, that's probably…

She was right about the cake . . .

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My Baby Sister, aged two, had crawled up on my Mom’s lap.

It was cuddling time.

I should probably mention that this didn’t happen often.

Cuddling, I mean.

Oh, not because Mom didn’t wish…

See? Cool!

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I had saved forever!

It was mine!

It's not fair!

Maybe I should explain . . .

In the early sixties, exciting things came in the mail.

Okay, yes, they still do.

But somehow, getting…

Have I ever mentioned that cows have a head comprised mostly of bone?

Seriously.

Their head is 99 % bone.

With a tiny little space for a walnut-sized brain.

Okay, well, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Their head can go through most anything.

Fences.

Doors.

Walls.

People.

You get them running and I swear they could go through solid concrete.

And laugh about it with their friends later.

That head is a…

Sooo satisfying

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Horses are like people.

They have personalities.

Friends.

Enemies.

Like to play.

Hate to work.

Live to eat.

They even have quirks.

Some have learned to take in a deep breath just…

Photo Credit: Real Housewife of Suffolk County

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Life is a bridge from here to there,

Some years of joy, some years of care,

It's…

Maybe it wouldn’t have been quite so bad if I hadn’t just finished reading Edgar Allen Poe’s “Telltale Heart”.

Maybe . . .

It had been a busy day.

Busy.

Our children, and our children’s children, had just left.

With six originals, plus spouses and offspring, that comes to quite a number.

I had collapsed into the couch for some well-deserved R & R.

After the noise from so many bodies, the silence was almost thick around me.

I laid my…

Me and my Dad

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It starts out with a snuffle – a voice he's never heard before,

And suddenly, he's a Father and there's a whole new world in store.

The time goes by, he's changed a thousand diapers, maybe…

Okay. It's tougher than it looks.

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My Mom could peel potatoes.

I mean, really peel potatoes.

She did it so fast, that, for years, I thought each potato had two peels.

Because there was always peel where I thought she had already . .…

What's not to love, right?

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I was in grade four.

Nine years old.

At the dawn of a new age.

I had discovered boys.

Or more specifically, boy.

KS was smart.

Cute.

Sweet.

Taller than…

Doing what she does best.

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There's one in almost every family.

That wonderful Aunt who collects children and adults around her like a rock star.

Our family has one.

The Aunt, I mean, not the rock star.

I…

Mom and her mixer. The source of all deliciousness.

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Mom was in the kitchen.

Baking.

My favourite thing.

I was in my usual spot.

Seated on the cupboard beside her Sunbeam mixer.

That…

I'm not an artist.

Really.

I'm not being modest or anything.

I'm really not an artist.

But in elementary school, everyone was an artist.

Because the teacher said so.

I should probably mention, here, that my painting of a tree looked . . . ahem . . . nothing like a…

Okay. This is what I think it looked like . . .

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Dad had a new toy.

A small musical instrument called a ‘musette’.

The fact that he was in his first year of university didn’t stop him from playing…

It was my first exposure to 'small town politics'.

Not a pleasant experience.

And I'll never forget it . . .

When I was in grade five, a new family moved to our town.

Parents, children.

The father had been offered the top position in one of the numerous churches in Milk River.

I first learned of the family when I met their daughter - I'm going to call her, Sally - on the first day of school in September.

She was a sweet, quiet little girl.…

Cute. AND can see in the dark!  

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My Baby Sister was the cutest little girl ever!

Really.

She still is

Cute, I mean.

But that's another story . . .

Baby Sister gave a whole new meaning to the…