Thoughts from Chickadee Lane

I thought was in reasonable good physical shape… until this week when I went walking with Gig Keirstead or I should say snowshoeing with Gig and about 30 other outdoor enthusiasts through the fields and woods at Elmhurst Outdoors, Erbs Cove, NB (owned and operated by Denise and Gig Keirstead).   Gig and Denise love to share their passion for the outdoors. So, among their many programs, every Wednesday morning Elmhurst Outdoors, offers a free Senior’s Program, for beginners or experienced, to “enjoy the serenity of the forest through one of their scenic snowshoe trails. Actually it was a marvellous morning. Wednesday’s snow/rain event left just enough snow to make snowshoeing possible. It was an exercise in mindfulness - my first outing on snowshoes this season.   Gig lead the caravan of snowshoers over hill and dale, though the woods and along a rapidly flowing babbling brook.   Along the way Gig drew our attention to the diversity of trees. Pulling a twig from a nearby evergreen, Gig

Today nostalgia fills the air … it’s a Storm Day.   Growing up, Storm Days meant playing in the barn loft, building forts. Indoors on days like this, Mom would occasionally make home made toffee which we pulled and stretched while licking fingers from the buttery mix. I can only imagine the mess of five children pulling sticky toffee. She must have been desperate to keep us busy! I confess I have never tried to make home made stretched toffee. Perhaps you have. Storm Days where great fun when my children were small - especially when the power went out. Everything slowed down. Huddled near the fireplace insert,  w e played games. In the shadows of candle light indoor hide and seek became a thrill.  Fast forward. As the children got older, on Storm Days we often stayed under the covers with a book… possibly appearing when a VHS movie was played. Or it was a great time to clean out a closet.   In the early years after divorce, Storm Days were lonely times… something like Saturday afternoo

Here we go - welcome 2024! This week is a time when past and future are forefront in my mind as on Monday I hung up a 2024 calendar and today began dismantling the Christmas decor. Thankfully decorations come down much quicker than when they appeared - strange how that is. Mind you the outdoor lights and 3 ft. candle canes are wound in a rats nest splayed out across the basement floor. There will be time next week for compact sorting and packing.   The ornaments, which have been brought along from house to house, go gently into boxes and tissue paper as old as the ornaments. There you will find an assorted collection from blending two families plus a few newbies gathered from travels. Among the treasures are 40+ year old ornaments my children created out of styrofoam and lace, more current ornaments made by grandchildren, a couple of miniature sailing ships (David’s),   70+ year old butterfly hat pins from Spears Millenary in Saint John where David’s Aunt Dorothy worked, gifts from fri