Standing Into Danger: May 2025

Friday, May 30, 2025

Light at the End of the Tunnel!

I never expected to be away so long, but I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

We are seven weeks into our renovation with three weeks to go.

Painting the entire upstairs is scheduled to begin today.

Our microwave is reinstalled upstairs, so I'm racking up stair climbs

running up and down the stairs for hot coffee.

There IS a silver lining in everything!

your tango.com

Plumb!

Saeed Working on the Shower

Aurora, Colorado, USA

May 22, 2025

In the last month life has had chaos, heartbreak, and a lot of stress,

but some really good things have been happening too.

One month out from his heart surgery, my brother Roy is doing great!

We are all excited about that!

Roy is doing great!

And so are the mosquitoes apparently! 😂

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

May 25, 2025

Our youngest sister Bertie is retiring and about to query her next children's chapter book.

Bertie Is Retiring

Honored by the Annapolis Local of the Nova Scotia's Teachers Union

Nova Scotia, Canada Late May 2025

Spring has sprung in the park along Piney Creek,

and I walked along a high bank I'd never walked on before (in almost 20 years!).

It's fun to see something so familiar from a new perspective.

Heading up a High Creek Bank Overlooking the "Upper Pond"

Baby Leaf Season Along Piney Creek

Aurora, Colorado, USA

May 21, 2025

Muleys So Busy Looking at a Man and a Dog That They Don't see Me 😂

Along Piney Creek

Aurora, Colorado, USA

May 21, 2025

Prairie Bluebells Dotting the High Bank

This plant has low flammability and can be used for defensible space around homes.

Colorado State University Extension. Source

Along Piney Creek

Aurora, Colorado, USA, May 21, 2025

I went out on the deck on Monday, Memorial Day, and I heard a meadowlark singing.

I haven't heard a meadowlark from our deck since before the pandemic.

The rough areas surrounding the golf greens used to be alive with meadowlarks.

I have grieved the loss of "my" meadowlarks, and now they're back.

The song of the meadowlark is one of the sweetest, purest sounds in the world.

The Meadowlark Singing off My Deck

Aurora, Colorado, USA

May 26, 2025

I couldn't get closer for a better shot for obvious reasons.

Aurora, Colorado, USA

May 26, 2025

YouTube ~ American Bird Conservancy

And best of all, Terry and I have a new grandniece!

Here's sweet Elsie, sister to Jackson, born on May 20th!

(my sister Donnie's daughter Krista's daughter.)

Elsie with Her Amazing Mom, Krista

May 20, 2025

Jackson with Elsie

Donnie with Elsie

And one more thing!

You may have heard of Teddy Swims first on my blog. Post

He has soared, and this week he broke the record for the most time

on the Billboard Hot 100 since its inception on August 4, 1958

with his huge hit, the bluesy soulful "Lose Control."

This song also ran a record 63 weeks in the Hot 100's Top Ten. Billboard

And you may remember that I did get to see Teddy in concert

in the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Teddy Swims with His Band of Friends, Freak Freely

The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

March 26, 2024

This is the song that really made me such a fan of Teddy Swims,

his cover of Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved."

He appears here with his high school friends Addy Maxwell and Jesse Hampton.

Both are guitarists in Freak Freely who often appear with Teddy all over the world.

Teddy Swims with Addy Maxwell and Jesse Hampton

Someone You Loved

YouTube

Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel!

I hope things are going well for each of you!

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be

IWSG Day

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 🤞

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

IWSG: Wednesday, May 7, 2025 ~ My Greatest Fear as a Writer

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.

To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are

Feather Stone, Janet Acorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and Pat Garcia!

Stop by their posts and thank them for hosting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.

This month's optional question is:

Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How did it get to be May already?

I hope things are going well for each of you.

This month's question is an easy one for me to answer.

My greatest fear as a writer is that I'll die before I finish the writing I want to do.

I never dreamed that I'd be sitting here at 75 still working on my memoir.

But here I am.

I was supposed to have a copy submitted to a publisher

or to someone who could help me pull it together by April 20th this year.

That was the challenge my sister Bertie threw down at me on April 20, 2024.

And I failed.

Admitting Failure to a Published-Author Sibling Isn't Easy

Bertie can skewer with a look!

(But she wasn't as hard on me as I anticipated.)

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 7, 2019

When I was younger, the need for security and independence kept me working,

first as a geologist and then as an elementary teacher.

I poured everything into my two demanding careers,

because I was passionate about them and I can't seem to do anything halfway.

There was little left over for creative writing, let alone becoming a professional writer.

Driller Jack Taylor and I in the Doghouse

DNB Rig, Western Kansas Oil Patch, USA

February 1982

Actually I wrote a lot connected with my careers, my degrees, and my volunteer work.

(as a union leader and in field and lab paleontology).

I published newspaper articles, wrote and delivered many speeches and workshops,

produced scientific reports and papers,

even published a short story in a Canadian literary journal, The Antigonish Review.

I wrote several partial drafts of my memoir.

But published memoirist escaped me.

Working on a Duck-Billed Dinosaur (Edmontosaurus)

Me Volunteering, Fossil Lab, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Denver, Colorado, USA 1992

When I retired I worked on my memoir in small chunks shared as blog posts.

I had buried trauma which I had to dig up, confront, reveal,

things I could only think of in metaphors such as muskeg, sandwich man, gingerbread girl.

Some of the carbon-dioxide and methane that bubbled up from my muskeg

could flip a herd of caribou toes up ~ permanently.

Just in case anyone is wondering: Caribou have four toes on each hoof.

That's a lot of hooves and toes pointing skyward and inducing guilt.

I still haven't exorcised all of my demons,

but I have discovered a deep compassion and love

for the people who have moved through my life,

those I hurt and those who hurt me.

I have found forgiveness and I have forgiven.

Northern Muskeg

Flickr: Rover Thor ~ License

And then last year when I thought I could pull it together, finally,

life got in the way.

It was a tough year.

I failed.

I had to admit to my sister Bertie that I had failed.

I had to accept that it is what it is.

And now I worry that I'll die before I accomplish what I must do.

So how am I managing this fear?

The only I know how,

the same way I have managed other big ~~fears~~ challenges in my life.

I put one foot in front of the other and I walk forward;

in this case, I start typing one word after another.

There are things I have managed in my past that were far, far harder,

and I walked through them all.

I will walk through this too, as long as I don't die first. 😂

I have to put aside the voices of all the people

I worry are thinking whiner, loser, failure, you're never going to finish this.

It is what it is, and I'm already walking.

Me, Regrouping After My Brother-in-Law's Memorial

Panama City Beach, Florida, USA

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Wishing each of you a great IWSG Day,

and a big thank you to our awesome co-hosts.

Have a healthy, happy, and creative May!

Take care!

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be Friday, May 16th 🤞

Friday, May 2, 2025

Vanishing Act

I'm sorry about my vanishing act.

I didn't mean to disappear.

I have a few down and quiet moments right now, so I'm going to grab them.

Right now my brother Roy is about halfway through a six-hour open heart surgery

to replace a failing heart valve he had received in Kuwait about fourteen years ago.

We're all waiting on pins and needles.

Typical Roy, his last message to us at 3:59 am from the hospital was "Oowie!!!"

He likes exclamation marks too. 😂

Roy Always Sees the Sunny Side of Life

(and my sister Bertie is a barista extraordinaire).

Bertie and Peter's, Smith's Cove

Nova Scotia, Canada

July 30, 2024

Tomorrow (Friday) we fly to Panama City in Florida

for Terry's brother's memorial service.

He died unexpectedly from cancer last week.

Bill was a kind, generous, and good person.

It's hard to believe. He was gone so suddenly.

You always think you'll have another time to see each other.

That's why you must always tell the special people in your life

what they mean to you while you can.

Terry and I Visiting Carolyn and Bill

Panama City, Florida, USA

April 10, 2024

Before that I was distracted by returning from Hawaii, unpacking, taxes,

packing up our home, making the basement livable,

and dealing with the demolition, wiring, plumbing, and drywalling upstairs.

Kitchen Demoed 😭

(I loved our kitchen, the nicest one I ever had.

Our new one should be awesome! 🤞 🎉)

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 14, 2025

Just the Beginning of a Very Full Truck

Headed for the Sedalia Landfill

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 14, 2025

Our Contractor Al Straarup of Tivoli Renovation, INC.

draws our new island on the kitchen floor.

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 16, 2025

Then there was the short cruise we were supposed to be on now,

but canceled when we got the news about Terry's brother Bill.

Maybe we'll have another chance to cruise on the beautiful Holland America Zaandam.

NOTHING takes priority over family!

I've just unpacked for the cruise and repacked for Florida.

Sailing the Inside Passage to Alaska on Holland America's Zaandam

Just the Best Time!

June 29, 2015

Terry has been a champ.

When we looked at our "kitchen" of microwave, kettle, and coffee pot,

Terry ran to Sam's Club and returned with an air fryer.

He dove right in and made a meal of salmon, baby potatoes, and salad.

We enjoyed it with wine at our banged up kitchen table from thirty-four years ago.

He can still surprise me after 43 years of knowing each other.

A Happy Chef Preparing Pork Chops

In our Makeshift Kitchen

April 19, 2025

He insisted that I have the futon on the floor while he sleeps on the less comfortable couch.

He doesn't grouse at me when I forget that we can't use

the microwave and air fryer at the same time and blow the breaker.

He doesn't grumble when I read with the lamp on before going to sleep.

We won't talk about the tv (although we can usually agree on CNBC). 😂

Home Sweet Home

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 14, 2025

Really, We Have Nothing to Complain About!

We've gone from surviving to thriving!

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 14, 2025

I did notice that it's been a nice spring,

and I have managed two walks along Piney Creek.

On the Edge of Spring Bursting Out!

Middle Pond

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 15, 2025

Beautiful Blossoms Looking Toward Mount ~~Evans~~ Blue Sky

HEB Club House, Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 16, 2025

I've been picking at this off and on throughout the day while waiting ~

playing Solitaire, chatting with Terry, playing Words with Friends,

working out with Julie, anything to distract myself.

Finally at 3:42 pm I sent out a text: "Any news on Roy?"

Roy immediately replied: "Surgery went well."

🎉🎉🎉

Ahhh! Thank God! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

I can think again.

I'll try to answer some comments before I leave for Florida tomorrow.🤞

Hopefully, by Monday or Tuesday, I'll be back on track again.

I've been missing you all, my friends!

Oops, I accidentally scheduled this for May 9th. Happy Friday!

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be

IWSG Day

Wednesday, May 7, 2025 🤞

Books Read in 2024

"5 Languages of Love: The Secret to Love That Lasts" by Gary Chapman
"At Home in the World" by Joyce Maynard
"Cockroaches" by Jo Nesbo
"Death's End" by Cixin Liu
"Eruption" by Michael Crichton and James Patterson
"In Darkness" by L. Diane Wolfe
"In My Time of Dying" by Sebastian Junger
"Nothing to Fear" by Julie McFadden, RN
"The Bat" by Jo Nesbo
"The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu
"The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon
"The Last to Vanish" by Megan Miranda
"The Montauk Monster" by Hunter Shea
"The Road to Character" by David Brooks
"The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller
"The Twist of a Knife" by Anthony Horowitz
"The Uninhabital Earth: Life After Warming" by David Wallace-Wells
"The Women" by Kristin Hannah
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
"Writing the Shadow" by Joanna Penn

Pages

Friday, May 30, 2025

Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

IWSG: Wednesday, May 7, 2025 ~ My Greatest Fear as a Writer

Friday, May 2, 2025

Vanishing Act