Today the Guelph Mercury ran a story about the Rainbow Chorus and the upcoming concert. I was interviewed for the article, and it refers to the song, "Starlight".

This morning I saw Bette Anne at the farmers' market. She was a friend in university, and I bump into her around town once every five years or so. Her wavy brown hair has turned crinkly and frosty. She has a bright-eyed, interesting Dutch face that has taken well to middle age. With her warm, energetic demeanour I suppose she will only grow ( Read more... )

Nearly three years ago, when I started volunteering Tuesday evenings at Out On The Shelf, the partner on my shift was Denise, a shy Catholic woman just coming out of her shell. A year or two younger than me, she had never had a relationship and wasn't sure where she identified herself in the queer spectrum, but as a social worker, had volunteered ( Read more... )

What a year 2008 has been! In November 2007 I agonized because someone from high school had contacted me through Facebook. That and Mom's death led me to reconnect with a number of other school chums by mail and internet. These experiences have been so positive and fun that any apprehensions have entirely evaporated.

On Boxing Day morning djjo and I ( Read more... )

Here are two images from the barbecue at Dad's place yesterday, provided mostly by Aunt Carol in honour of a visit by Aunt Nancy from Nova Scotia.

First is a photo of Mom's three surviving sisters, (from left) Janet, Nancy and Carol. It characterizes them pretty well. After Mom died, Carol told me, "Whenever you need a mom you can call on me."

On ( Read more... )

What a strange week this has been: some great blessings mixed among the hardships. I don't have to stop and make myself think in order to see them; they are clearly evident.

My apartment flood hit remarkably few valuable and precious things. This seems almost miraculous. Several years ago Sylvie gave me a small replica of Van Gogh's Sunflowers, ( Read more... )

The good news is, Mom's condition has stabilized. Taking her off morphine was the right thing to do. She is almost almost back to how she was when we visited at Christmas. I encouraged her to try massage therapy to relieve the lymphedema, so Saturday morning Dad took her to an appointment. Almost immediately we could see (and she could feel) an ( Read more... )

Religion seems to be the theme of the week. This morning the Rainbow Chorus performed at a service in Waterloo in which Parkminister United Church made its formal declaration as a new affirming congregation.

For those of you who live elsewhere, the United Church of Canada is our most liberal Christian denomination. It's structure is highly ( Read more... )

I chose to spend this Christmas Day, for the first time, with Danny. A considerable crowd of friends showed up at the house for roast ham last night; we were 14 altogether. Today Bill and Daniel headed to Hamilton for the morning, so Danny and I were left to the quietest Christmas I can remember, and I'm pleased with that.

I phoned Stephen, my ( Read more... )

I have been asked to write the narrative that will accompany the January concert of Waterloo-Wellington Rainbow Chorus. Having come through some exciting challenges recently, such as the trip to Carnegie Hall last February, we decided to concentrate this fall on caring for ourselves. The theme of this program is music of "peace, love and joy." To ( Read more... )