Thoughts from Chickadee Lane

March in the Maritimes is such a tease! I am glad to see it come to an end.   One day the sun is shining, the snow melting, the spring coat retrieved and winter boots tossed to the back of the closet. With feet free to step lightly, Spring feels like a major weight loss. Next day, the wind is howling, the snow falling. Back comes the winter coat, out come the boots.   On a personal level, last week felt like March in spades! On Monday, the first day of Spring, we learned of the overnight death of a good friend. We knew Sue was ill, yet not how ill. The almost sudden death leaves many of us bereft.   Questions linger. How can this be?   What was the last conversation? Did it have meaning? Was it worthwhile? Did I listen for what was not spoken?   Still it is Spring. Beneath the earth, new life stirs, shoots are reaching out and up.  (like the picture above) The grief is sharp. Like the spring freezing and thawing of Earth, the joys and sorrows are entwined.   Still it is Spring. Mid wee

                                  Anne, Judy, Rose and David with newly constructed peace signs.  This week we were making  peace .   Several years ago David and I had the idea of making a  peace sign,   following the inspiration of friends who had a lit up  Peace on Earth  sign on their front yard. The project began and a 2 X 8 foot  peace   sign was created. LED lights created the script. In cursive. It hung for several years on the front of the manse in Long Reach where we once lived until I retired from Two Rivers in 2017.   The   peace   sign moved with us as we migrated up the road from the manse to Kingston. Today it hangs on the front of our garage for all travellers to see   throughout the seasons. You don’t need a civic number to find us. We are known as the home with the  peace  sign. Isn’t that lovely! A few neighbours commented on what a difference it makes to see  peace   glowing in the dark.   So they wanted to share   peace   and build their own signs. Which they did. (

                                        My mother Reta and grandmother Ethel on the way to market.  Happy International Women’s Day. (IWD) Today March 8 is a global day celebrating women! Today we celebrate the social, economic, cultural, spiritual and political achievements of women while continuing to call out inequality.   This movement, that I suggest began with Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15-19) two Hebrew midwives who tricked the mighty Pharaoh, grew louder in the late 1800’s and was finally adopted by the United Nations in 1977. It was while living in the Philippines that I first encountered women who celebrated International Women’s Day. Together we gathered at the University of the Philippines in Manila for my first experience of watching “The Vagina Monologues.”   Now that was an experience to remember!   On this International Women’s Day thoughts of many amazing women who have been and continue to be my guides come to mind. Many I know in person or through family folklore. O

Last week I wrote about preparing my will. Following the wisdom of a friend, this week I took the 'end of life' planing one step further.   Since I have left instructions to be cremated, I went on the search for a burial urn.   As a clergy person I have had the holy privilege to sit with many families as they journeyed through the valley of death. I sat with them as they made 'the arrangements.’ I witnessed loved ones make difficult decisions in the depths of grief, including the selection and cost of an urn. So it made perfect sense to take care of this detail.   As one who presides at funerals, I have been honoured to rest my hands on earthly remains housed in a variety of urns and caskets to offer prayers of commendation with words such as: “Into the freedom of the wind and the sunshine,   —— we let you Spirit go.” Into the dance of the stars and the planets ——we let your Spirit go. Into the wind’s breath and the hands of the star maker, —— we let your Spirit go.” Ashes