I am the sixth of seven children: molded, formed, nudged, inspired and influenced by these unique remarkable people. They are my sisters, brothers and parents and they are in my stories, even if not mentioned, they are there.
Author: MMV
I am an active 50-something East-Coaster come-from-away. I am into my family, good food, beach walking, gardening, blogging (obviously), reading, my friends, including a fur-headed one, and humour. These are my stories. Enjoy.
A Can Of Worms
Memories, like wriggling worms, are unearthed regarding my time serving in the Canadian Armed Forces
A Gloved Hand & An Entity
Mama put my guns in the ground I can't shoot them anymore That cold black cloud is comin' around And I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door ~Bob Dylan
Hallelujah – A Good Night’s Sleep! Here’s How…
After three years, last night I had nine hours of good sleep where I laid my head down and woke up nine hours later. Here’s how I got to this point.
What’s 50 Pounds Between Friends?
In the last five years I have both gained and lost fifty pounds. Here’s how...
North of 66 ~ A Trying Year in Arctic Red River
In 1993 we spent a year in a Northern Community. We had many good and enriching times but, there were at least three tragedies while we were there... *** In early July 1993 we rolled into Arctic Red River, just north of the sixty-sixth parallel in the North West Territories. We had been driving for [...]
Little Saw-Tooth
'I'm your friend...and as your friend I gotta be honest with you. I don't care about you or your problems.' ~Chloe the CatThe Secret Life of Pets ~~~ We adopted a tabby kitten from a friend in Polar River, NWT. She was a tiny cat, but she was mighty. We named her Sahtu after [...]
Mr. Laset and the Huronia Games
A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.
Forest E. Witcraft
Teacher, Scholar
Slip Slidin’ Away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away
And I know a father who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things he had done
He came a long way just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and he headed home again
Slip slidin' away
~Paul Simon
They Made The Weather
"The made the weather then they stand in the rain and say, shit! It's raining!"
~Ruby Thewes, Cold Mountain
Sundown
Sometimes I find it's a shame when I get feelin' better when I'm feelin' no pain
~Gordon Lightfoot
Because We Love We Cry
By Sheree Fitch, Poet and Author of Nova Scotia, Canada after the tragedy in Portapique, Nova Scotia Apr 2020
Doggin’ It!
I do not try to disappoint
Or mean to disobey
There is no reason you'd suspect
I'd go another way
For we are born to what we are
With choices we must make
I see no point in taking sides
I see no sides to take
~John McCutcheon's Bird Dog
Yo Universe! Thanks Again
You can't always get what you want but, if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need*
The Surprising Shiatsu Massage Miracle Worker Guy
A story about a pain-in-the-neck visitor and how a miracle worker helped me through it
High School Out Trip
A survival trip in the 80s has me realizing my nature and that I am at home in it
Newfoundland. Yes, B’y!
Highlights: the food! Oh my, such wonderful food. The hikes! Oh my, such gorgeous seaside scenery. The colour! Oh my, such bright and vivid colours every which way we turned. The accented lovely way of speaking! Oh my, so sweet: how ya be, me ducky?
I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together… (Paul Aikins 1965-2019)
'I'm so glad we had this time together, just to have a laugh or sing a song. Seems we just get started and before you know it, comes the time we have to say, So Long'
~Carol Burnett
Highest Tides ~ Fastest Bird ~ Only in the Valley (part 3)
Today, we were in double digits with blue skies and ebbing tides....off to one of our many beaches to enjoy it. Not knowing a) that this beach belonged to a pair of nesting Peregrines and b) that this would be a truly remarkable day...
Just over the hill at Dabro Farms
We are big fans of really good, local, fresh food. We aren't fanatics about it, we just really appreciate it when it is offered and when we can get our hands on it fairly easily at a decent price. Similar to the story about Reid's Meats, Dabro Farm is just west a bit and is [...]
Amy Goes West
Amy waited all day in Gas Town for the money transfer to come through, seeing sights that made her head spin. Men dressed as women. Gay lovers. Protests of every sort. The needle and the damage done.
To My Furry Girl-friend
When you see my Lady, with the twinkle in her eyes, tell it to her softly and hold her if she cries. Tell her that I love her and I will till the day I die. Tell it to her gently when you tell her that I won't be coming home again
~ Burton Cummings
My Reverse Bucket List
We're here for a good time
Not a long time
So have a good time
The sun can't shine every day...
~Trooper
Only in The Valley ~ Episode Reid’s Meats
One of those moments that I have come to cherish in this big valley we now call home...
The Best Job in The World ~ Mom
The BEST that it ever gets is having and holding your child as well as remembering the hilarious things they do and say...
While Sitting At Your Grave
Though things we knew not how
When it was clear and loud
I hope you’re watching now
I hope we do you proud....
~Allen Kinsella
Fire on the Rifle Range
Again I realized that there are some of us who need to lead but, there are more of us who just want to follow
Ode To The Joy Of A Parents’ Love
A poem by my eldest sister about the simple recipe of loving, guiding and nurturing a child...
Barefoot Summers
Summers in the 70s lived by the soles of our feet, lakeside
My Bad Little Girl Summer
A bite of scorched popcorn brings to mind the taste of Du Maurier cigarettes smoked the summer I was 8 years old, over four decades ago...
The Badlands & A New Biz
Overnight my job is lost due to a fire...it wasn't long before we struck upon a viable business idea one that is still operating today
The Case of the Shit-Breath
A Magnum P.E.I Mystery
Trying Something New?
A Friday night visit to the video store ends in mortifaction...
Sticks and Stones
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Can Also Hurt Me...
Sticks and Stones Break only Skin while Words are Ghosts that Haunt Me. Pain from Words has Left Its Scar on Mind and Heart that's Tender. Cuts and Bruises now have healed, it's words that I Remember.
The Loss of Dane ~ part 2
Lightning crashes a new mother cries
Her placenta falls to the floor
The angel opens her eyes
The confusion sets in
Before the doctor can even close the door
~Live
Let the Games Begin ~ part 3
When the cat’s away, the mice shall play
Final Frontier Running
'Nobody puts Baby in the Corner'
~Johnny, Dirty Dancing
Focus Kids. It’s Only Tuesday!
Play is the work of childhood.
~Mr. Rogers
Sublime: Perfect. Without Blemish
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. ~Dalai Lama
A Posting to Germany and a Lifelong Romance ~ part 5
We were spending all kinds of time together, working and exploring Europe but, it wasn't turning into romance. So, I did something about it... So we began our careers together as young platoon commanders and it was busy – the learning curve was vast and challenging and not without sweat and tears. We attended daily [...]
Barefoot Heathens
A sunny day and a barefoot walk with my big brother turns into a horrible memory...and a new fantasy ending
Crazy Train ~ part 2 ~ Cuba
So, no, woman, no cry. No, woman, no cry. I say, oh, little—oh, little darlin', don't shed no tears. No, woman, no cry. Eh. ~Bob Marely
RMC, Comox and Borden, Oh My ~ part 3
Leaving Roads in second year finds me flailing until Logistics Training a year later. It was worth it...
My Flute Playing Friend
'The greatest gift in life is friendship, and I have received it.'
~Hubert H. Humphrey
My Mil Col Experience ~ Army, part 2
"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."
D.H. Lawrence
The King of Korea
For a couple of years in a row, we did this thing: we took in a boy from Korea for the month of January and the next year we took in he and his little brother. Charlie and Joshua were something else (can you say, high maintenance?) and I have to say, when we finally said [...]
Cuatro a Cuba
With the goal of getting back into World Travel now that our wee one is taller than us, we start with the sweet country of Cuba...
Early Morning Mass
Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste. I've been around for a long, long year, Stole many a man's soul and faith. And I was 'round when Jesus Christ, Had his moment of doubt and pain. Made damn sure that Pilate Washed his hands and sealed his fate... ~Rolling [...]
My Bro Jobe
Climbing out of his crib before he could walk, here is the story of my brother Jobe.
He Sails Away
My son and his shipmates walked down the plank and aboard the ship as the Indigenous girl sang a sweet sad song of good-bye. As she beat her skin drum the tears streamed down my face. 'Come home to us', I prayed.
The Paradoxical Commandments ~ by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. [...]
He Grows Up
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” —Mark Twain.
Incredible, Exotic India 🕉
We sat on the ancient stone steps in the early morning and watched in fascination as the pilgrims bathed in the holy black waters of the Ganges.
Boquete, Panama – A Place of Firsts
By the time we reached Boquete, we were done. Exhausted. There had been many legs to this overland journey from Costa Rica, but at least now we had arrived into the eternal springtime that is Boquete. It was February 2004, our third month of overland travel as we rolled into Boquete in Panama's Green Mountain [...]
Fort Myers Memories
Three Christmases bring three road trips down to Fort Myers beach in the 1980s with Dad and Win. Oh dear.
Namaste, Nepal
We trekked for about thirty days in the Himalayas doing the Annapurna Circuit, in an unconventional manner, which will come to light as the story unfolds. To get to the starting point of the trek, we bought a ticket for the bus. Not lucky enough to grab a seat each on the inside of the [...]
Just a little Stroll…
Yesterday I asked my friend Victoria if she wanted to get out for a mid-afternoon walk in a nearby Watershed Nature Preserve, just a few minutes from our Nova Scotian town. She had never been there she said as I explained where it is located. She asked if it would be a tough walk because [...]
TO INFINITY…AND BEYOND!
My son, Leo's favourite toy of all time was Buzz Lightyear, the action figure who emerged from the 1995 block buster movie Toy Story. He wanted the action figure very badly. We would make special trips to the toy store just to look at them and imagine owning one. The weird thing was that we [...]
160K in Holland
Forty K per day for four days over the rolling hills and through the city streets of Netherlands, in 1989 I did the International Nijmegen Marches with a military team...
Taking Summer Seriously
Last summer an idea struck. How about I take summer seriously? How about I make a concerted effort to get out on our beautiful Nova Scotia beaches on as many nice days as possible. I own my own business and can work flexible hours, so in keeping with the tides, I could arrange my work [...]
The Loss of Dane ~ part 1
Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.
Leonard Cohen
Bird on a Wire
Amy’s Men
Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips are sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She got Bette Davis eyes
She'll turn the music on you
You won't have to think twice
She's pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes
...Kim Carnes
A Buttertart and a Kiss
A hastily eaten homemade buttertart leads to an unexpected 'meeting' 👄
Ashram Rant
I did the 500 hour yoga teacher training at an ashram in the Bahamas in two one-month stints separated by a year. I am still confused about my time there.
Theory of Loss
Now the sun's gone to hell and
The moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We are fools to make war
On our brothers in arms
~Dire Straits
Prune Juice & Pregnancy😳
Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play
Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid....
~Smash Mouth.
Across Canada in Betsy 🇨🇦
In 1992 we spent four months traveling Canada and Alaska in our 1976 VW Van...
Fun and Foibles at the Camp
Oh when I look back now That summer seemed to last forever, And if I had the choice, Yeah, I'd always want to be there Those were the best days of my life ~Bryan Adams Summer of '69
We’re Not in Canada Anymore…this is Oz
Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover..... ~Men at Work We arrived in Melbourne, Australia in 1994 and kicked around the city for a few days, staying with friends we had met on [...]
La Cucaracha Report ~ Ometepe & Costa Rica
I was born in the sign of water, and it's there that I feel my best. The albatross and the whales they are my brother....Little River Band
La Cucaracha Report – Honduras 🇭🇳
Our stay in the paradise of West Bay, Roatan gets a little scary when our four-year old gets sick….
Exiting the Arctic
Having lived three years above the Arctic Circle, Dean's acceptance into a post-grad program in Toronto sees us driving South on Boxing Day 1996...
The Camp
In the 60s my parents buy a piece of lake-front property north of the Muskokas in Ontario, Canada where we move to every summer to live bare-foot at the lake: fishing, swimming, sunning and doing chores each day...
Can U Canoe? 🛶
I started canoeing when I was tiny. A brother and I would go out on the lake to catch bullfrogs and to explore the lily pads around the cove. We would often harvest a few lilies for Mom who would float them in a bowl of water on the table...
Crazy Train ~ part 1 ~ All ABOARD!
The stress of a large home renovation then subsequent bronchitis throws me into a bipolar episode...
Crazy Train ~ part 3 ~ Home…ish
I would ask total random strangers to look into my eyes and see the flecks. The flecks are magic, I would say. Um....No words.
La Cucaracha Report from Nicaragua 🇳🇮
We regretfully leave our sweet cabana on Roatan for a day of overland travel on ferry, chicken bus and taxi to find a sweet hostel with a peaceful and friendly courtyard in Granada, Nicaragua...
La Cucaracha Report – Guatemala 🇬🇹
Guatemala was all colour. We were agog at the tapestries hanging two and three deep on each side of the main street as we arrived in Panajachel. We spent one day just walking around and looking at all the beautiful crafts. We bargained for tapestries and later, met a guy heading home to London, Ontario. [...]
Let the Games Begin ~ part 1
Thunder only happens when it's raining. Players only love you when they're playing.
~Fleetwood Mac - Dreams 1977
La Cucaracha Report – Mexico 🇲🇽
With a golden handshake from IBM we embark on a four month backpacking trip in Mexico and Central America...with four-year old Leo...mostly amazing
Make Work Your Favorite
'Make work your favorite, that's your new favorite, okay? Work is your new favorite.'
~Elf, The Movie
A Posting to Germany and a Lifelong Romance, part 4
...it is the belief that there are no coincidences but that rather, everything in life has a pattern and that a coincidence is simply the moment that the pattern becomes briefly visible.
~Anthony Horowitz
Locked Up in D.C.
A week after my precious son was born, I was in a strait-jacket, face down on the floor of a rubber room. Helloooooo postpartum psychosis.
A Simple East-Coast Life
Seeing the hand-lettered notice SUMMER RENTAL $700 ALL INCLUSIVE...we knew it was meant to be
Sweet Sixteen
1981 was the year my Mom morphed into a love-sick teenager right before my cringing eyes. My parents were in the midst of a break up but the first step was for them to have a trial separation while still both living in our bungalow. Mom had the basement and Dad had the upstairs. They [...]
Pigs CAN Fly
A road-trip with my oldest sister comes to a hilarious, um, outcome My two big sisters were my world. Born a decade and a bit ahead of me, they were only ten months apart. Known as Irish twins. They were born, then three boys, then me and finally our littlest brother. After the three boys [...]
I’m In the Army Now…
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself. ~D.H. Lawrence *** After my nineteenth consecutive great summer at [...]
Situation Normal 