Looking Back – A Page From my Journal

It is absolutely beautiful out here. It sure doesn’t look like rain today even though that’s what the weather forecast was saying would happen. It’s hot already and the sky is almost completely clear of clouds. I know that can change fairly quickly but its sure doesn’t look likely right now as I sit outside in my PJ’s penning my words in my journal.

Andree and I had a fabulous weekend so far. We’ve gone out two nights in a row, (old hags partying it up), and we had so much fun. Friday night we went to Five Feminist Minutes, (click on Five Feminist Mintues to get more info) at the Habitat, a place that held an opportunity for women’s voices to be heard and it was a riot. I had so much fun; I plan to be there again next year for sure. Check out their venue here.

It was fun to see local women, with is so much talent, get up on stage and let some of their talent shine for five minutes. Some women sang, some danced, some recited poetry, some read from their journals, some told jokes. It was absolutely wonderful. We were there for 3 hours and it was continuous entertainment with a short intermission break.

I went up there myself. I claimed my 5 minutes of fame by reading a piece I wrote several years ago. Its one that sounds quite serious and sad but ends in an unexpected twist which people seemed to very much enjoy. There were two other brave souls from my journal writing groups who came to read an excerpt from their journals. The whole evening was a lot of fun and the best part of it was that the money from the proceeds was going to the Kelowna Women’s Resource Center so it made it an even more worthwhile and fun evening.

Yesterday we drove out of Dodge in the early afternoon and made our way to Armstrong where we used to live. It’s always a good feeling to go back there since Andree and I both loved that place. When we arrived we went to a favourite, and now the only 2nd hand clothes store where I was hoping to leave some of clothes which no longer fit to sell on consignment. Unfortunately that didn’t work out because such a simple task has now become as complex as planning a wedding with needing to book appointments and only for specific days of the week just to drop off some clothes. Since I was already there, I had a look around and ended up buying some clothes instead, two pairs of shorts and a top to add to my summer wardrobe.

After that we went to visit an old friend, had a wonderful visit with her and learned about her latest visit to her favourite country she can’t seem to get enough of, and I certainly understand why, when I hear what she has to report and look at the pictures she brings back from Switzerland.

Next we made our way to a potluck BBQ which was being held at a wife and wife team’s place – a beautiful old home with a huge back yard where about 34 of us gathered to chat, get to know each other and have fun. It was another fabulous evening. We got to meet new people and to got to enjoy each other’s company without the blaring music and loud noises of public places where a few of us gathered before.

In this setting, women got to talk one-on-one, mingle around, play Bacchii Ball, tell stories and just have a lot of good clean fun with some down to earth people. It made me realize how the setting can make all the difference in the world in what one experiences and how it affects the kind of gathering it ends up being. For me being in nature is always a huge plus and here we were in a place where we could actually hear each other talking.

The yard had a fish pond with huge fish in it, a fountain, shade trees, fruit trees of every kind size and shape, a vegetable and herb garden, wild flowers, flower beds, an English garden, sitting areas here and there, wind chimes, dream catchers stained glass hanging in various locations, four different inuksuk at strategic spots, a medicine wheel and just plain good energy all around.

It was certainly a fabulous weekend so far and I can’t wait to see what today holds. So far we have no plans but who knows what could happen on such a glorious, warm, beautiful day. It’s something to look forward to as it unfolds.