team prairie

In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan,

earth stood hard as iron, weather like a stone.

Christina Rosetti

 

 

I didn't blog last week because i had nothing to say, other than "i'm cold".

 

I'm not sure there's all that more to say this week, but here goes.

 

picture me here, on my couch in my living room, surrounded by paintings of flowers, a bouquet on the glass table in front of me.  i'm wrapped in a blanket, and you know why. i'm wracking my brain from something interesting to say.

 

outside i can see my lawn, but not all of it yet.  this week our bush magically reappeared after its long hiding, and we actually had to stick the "for sale" sign in the ground rather than in the snow.  we bought popsicles at costco, in great anticipation, and i've begun reaching for shoes rather than boots.  so, there are hopeful beginnings. 

 

but i'm still freakin' cold. 

 

in my favourite books by Louise Penny, there's a little Quebec town that is filled with delightful characters, and they love to talk about the weather.  i get it.  i am literally salivating at the mouth thinking about warmth.  last night i was in that wakeful dream state before finally taking the plunge into slumber, and i was imagining actually having to take off a blanket because i was too hot.  i dream of heat.  and i'm not alone, and that is why here in the prairies we talk about the weather.  it is our common enemy, or common triumph.  sometimes, it is truly capable of killing us, so we have to stick together.  we commiserate over pushing shopping carts in inches of slush.  we pass understanding looks at the gas station while shakily refueling.  we make sounds of exclamation when exiting or entering buildings.  we are team saskatchewan, and team winter is kicking our butts.

 

but at least we're a team.

 

which is why, despite what people keep saying to me, i will wholeheartedly miss the prairies.  i will miss the camaraderie and the kindness, the simplicity and pace.  the expectation that strangers will be helpful, or at the very least polite.   

 

and some day i will even miss the snow.

 

but today is not that day friends.  on saturday i was looking out the window at beautiful puffy snowflakes billowing down.  it was the perfect Christmas snowfall.  in late april.  it was at the same time visually magical and terribly depressing.  scott quickly checked the forecast and tentatively announced that "yes! this is the last snowfall".  i knew he was just saying that to keep me from completely breaking down, but it worked.  i stared out at those gorgeous flakes and thought "i may not see this again for years".  that really perked me up, and made me sad for reasons other than missing my lawn.  

so, for those of you who read my last entry where i asked for prayer for the colour green - you may want to search your lives for some unconfessed sins because those prayers have not been granted.  just a heads up.

come to think of it, i'd better do a moral inventory because my prayers are seemingly ineffective as well.  could this entire winter by my fault?  could God be using the snow as a means of his refining, the cold as a measure of my worth?  have the last 6 months been a trial so that i can leave this province a little bit easier?  does the world actually revolve around me?  has my mother been wrong all this time?!

possible.  but unlikely.

at the very least, this winter has made me even prouder to be on team prairie.  and i'll be on this team no matter where life takes me.

green is the colour

i miss green.  i live in a world of brown and white and, thankfully, some blue sky.  but green?  i have taken to holding onto the "greenery" from a bouquet of flowers for months.  who needs flowers?  well, i do actually, but what i need more is GREEN.

i was thinking about this deep desire of mine, musing on the fact that i am more than a little nuts, when a newsletter from a renowned artist (Robert Genn) on the topic of creativity appeared in my in-box.  let me quote:

when do ideas happen?....When we see green: Green surroundings, whether green-painted walls or the green outdoors, suggest new growth, rebirth, fertility and renewal--just one of the reasons why a walk in the park can be so fruitful. Feeling non-creative in the studio? Squeeze out some green.

and there it is.  confirmation.

i have been feeling very lack-lustre in the studio lately.  i thought it was just the stress of selling the house, but now i'm thinking it's living in winter for almost 6 months that has sucked the creative juices out of me.  Robert also suggests moderate drinking and daydreaming.  well...if i must.

all of you who don't live in the prairies could send up a prayer for us flat-landers.  the 21st of April will mark 6 months without seeing my lawn.  i would really love to look outdoors on that day to a world devoid of snow.  well, not a world (sorry polar bears!), but my neighbourhood would be lovely.

there were some positive developments for my little family today - my son and i went to pick up my daughter from school sans coats!  (we did wear mitts).  and we actually barbecued for dinner!!!  it was very encouraging.  there's nothing a cave girl likes more than grilled steak - except for maybe chocolate and cheese.  my naturopath has given me the green light to start introducing said items into my diet again.  i had a teaspoon of mascarpone (which is cheese that tastes like whipped cream) on my salad yesterday at lunch and yikes!  it seems i definitely have a dairy intolerance. 

which means i'm just going to have to work at it - i wouldn't want to be labelled as intolerant.

so, i'm going to stare at my turquoise pants (that's close enough to green right?) for a while, drink some cider and dream of boursin...i'm sure that will spark some creativity. 

When students were given creativity tests, those whose test-cover pages had a green background gave more creative answers than those whose pages were white, blue, red or grey." (Sue Shellenbarger, reporting in the Wall Street Journal) 

if you're interested in the Robert Genn twice-weekly newsletter, which delves into all matters relating to artistry, go here.

why

i've been struck with the question why this easter season. 

last sunday (palm sunday), while doing my hair, i had the thought that it sure would have been great to have done an installation at the church for easter.  i thought about a painting i saw while in north van, one that an artist at our new church had done for last easter - a black canvas with a lamb.  it got me imagining.  by the time i made it to church i had a rough idea.  i grabbed two artists and pitched it, and by thursday it was hung.  four canvases, one for each day of the weekend:  sacrifice for good friday, darkness for saturday, resurrection for sunday, and ascension for monday.  i was in charge of saturday and monday. 

does the easter weekend saturday have a special name?  maybe holy saturday?  i like to call it dark saturday, or black saturday - but i usually get some awkward looks from my husband.  i think it's one of the most meaningful days of the year for me.  a day of utter despair and hopelessness and fear.  i know, this makes me sound totally morbid.  i find it hard to relate to the feeding of 5000 or lazarus stumbling stinkily out of the tomb, i have no grid for walking on water or watching my hero be crucified.  but i can relate to disillusionment and frustration.  i can sink myself into the story of the disciples on this saturday, huddled and broken, totally bewildered. 

i think of Christ's last words "my God, why have you forsaken me?".  they must have rung in the minds of the twelve (well, eleven) all day.  why?  why?  why? 

sometimes i feel it is my duty as a Christian to not ask the question why.  to just accept, and trust, and stuff my disappointment and move on - but not so.  i actually worship a God who chose to fully enter the human experience, even to the point of groaning this question that plagues us all:  why?  Jesus models to me that there are times when it is appropriate to struggle with the Creator God of the universe.  that He is not immune to our despair, that He can handle our anger and incredulity. 

incredible.

what a gift.  to serve a master who understands me so deeply. who gets the breadth of the human experience.  from utter despair to incredible joy.   

these days i'm asking why we have only had two years in saskatoon, a land that i truly love.  why the upheaval for our family again.  why the stress and strain.  why do i have to leave these friends, this home, and opportunities here.  and i truly am experiencing Christ's comfort in my questions.  i'm even seeing some answers in how scott's leaving is igniting great conversation for positive change in our church.  i have hope that my future is secure.

because Jesus was not only a human.  He is and was also God.  and so, while i am directing my whys at the sky, i am comforted that He is reigning: immovable, reliable, with a desire for only justice since he has experienced profound injustice, with empathy for my frustration and confidence that He holds me. 

 

i serve a risen saviour, he's in the world today

i know that he is living, whatever men may say

i see his hand of mercy i hear his voice of cheer

and just the time i need him, he's always near.

nuts

this morning my daughter sat at the breakfast table (which, in case you were wondering, is the same as the lunch and dinner table), and said "well, it's official.  i'm nuts".
scott replied "if you were truly nuts you wouldn't know it.  i think that's one of the components of losing your mind, you don't notice it's gone" (or something to that effect, probably not as eloquent).

hmmm.

i beg to differ sweet husband.

last week i went nuts.  and i knew it. 

our house went on the market last monday, and on that day and the next 6 to follow it i cleaned my home from top to bottom.  every day.  i felt like my eyes were dirt magnets, capable of finding the smallest scuff, the errant dust, the hidden fingerprint.  i was a dirt spy.  a dirt detective.  the sherlock holmes of house care. 

my poor children.

on tuesday, only day 2 of my psychosis, we got into the car to drive my daughter to school and she cried "OH LORD!!!  sell our house!!!"  it was a cry of passion, a psalmian lament from deep within her. 

and, Praise the Lord above, He listened.  we had an offer by wednesday, and the conditions should be lifted and the sale final by this coming friday.

so, you're thinking, what's your problem Janet?  why the melt down when your house was only on the market for less than a week?  i think my poor little anxiety meter was still bruised from our last move.  two and a half years seems to have not been enough time to forgive and forget.  i went right back into the crisis mode of the fall of 2010 - my husband was already here in saskatoon and i was still in cloverdale BC, with two little ones and our house for sale.  i was a clean maniac.  i remember yelling "spit in the hole, not in the sink!!!".  i had this routine of getting the kids up and cleaning behind them as they dressed and worked their way downstairs for breakfast - beds made and bathroom clean before cereal even hit their little lips.  i told myself i would be prepared for anything - a last minute showing or interested neighbour.  i had cookie dough waiting in the freezer and would throw in a batch whenever anyone came through the house, so it smelled like deliciousness, and so i'd have a little note and fresh cookies for the prospective buyers.  imagine the tizzy i would fly into if the realtor didn't show!!  two months of escalating craziness.

and i was right back there starting day one of this sale.  it didn't help that somehow we missed the fact that scott was going away on a staff planning retreat for three days.  he left the day the house went on MLS, and there was a showing that night.  as soon as i realized what situation i was in AGAIN - selling a house with two kids and no husband to help - BLAM!  a little switch in my brain went from sane to nuts. 

i think the switch has been flicked back.  but, if scott's right, i wouldn't really know would i? 

i'm comforted by the fact that my kids have stopped pleading with God (at least, out loud), that i ignored dirt today (although it was difficult) and that i haven't wiped down our bathroom since saturday.  baby steps to healing.

hold on to your hats

the big news is:  there's a "for sale" sign on my lawn, stuck into close to six feet of snow.  silly me, i asked the realtor "how are you going to get it into the ground?", she smiled graciously and explained the one benefit of having a small ski-hill on your front yard:  sign placement.

we're moving again.

back to BC.  back to flowers and green and rain and grey.  to North Vancouver to be precise - which will be a stretch for us as a family, and for me personally, in many ways.  i am directionally challenged, so the idea of living anywhere with the name "Vancouver" attached to it is a little daunting.  thankfully North Van is stuck between the ocean and mountains, so that's two directions that should be pretty straightforward.  when we moved here scott felt lost without the mountains "i always knew which direction i was going in".  my internal reaction:  "what a good idea - using the mountains!".  yes, i'm that challenged.

thankfully, as opposed to last time, our realtor here is a woman who made all of the needed "oooh" and "ahhh" sounds my little housewife heart was hoping for. she said "you don't need to change a thing" and i nearly busted my buttons. hallelujah! that must be one of my favourite sentences (note to husband).

though we love our church here, scott's fit in his role as associate pastor has not been the best.  we feel hungry for a smaller church again, for intimacy and vulnerability and casual gatherings.  for the arts and church meals and family.  we think, well, we're pretty positive, we've found our fit in Cappilano Community Church.  so, starting August first, scott will be their new lead pastor.  which i suppose puts me back in the lead pastor's wife shoes again (lord have mercy). 

we're excited.

and we're sad.

and we're happy.

and we're heartbroken.

it's like a roller coaster around here.  God has helped make the move away from our beloved saskatoon a little easier by putting us in a deep freeze since october.  however, i know that before we leave i will see my backyard verdant green again, and my tree full of leaf, and the parks climbing with children, and the river rolling.  ah, saskatoon, how i love you.

we now embark on the journey of three-months of goodbyes.  which is easier, the slow withdrawal which extends a less painful pain; or the quick rip of agony?  i'm not sure.  leaving BC was one good-bye party too many.  i think my bookclub had it's "last club with Janet!" at least three times while we were waiting for the house to sell.  i'm praying this move will be more straightforward.  my friends did get to use the "but janet's moving!!!" card for months though - much to their poor husbands chagrin.

i feel like i've been a bit of a hermit of late, shying away from conversations because i was not yet able to share the biggest things happening in my life.  but now, the words out, and i'm ready to play! 

as long as you come here to play, i don't want to drive in this weather.



off i go to create meaningful memories with as many people as humanly possible.  and sell a house.  and buy a house.  and comfort my crying daughter and my friend ruth who has hinted she would rather i'd just die (she has a bit of an aversion to good-byes).  and eat some more meat and veggies. 

all in a days work.

i'm a cave girl

so, i went to a naturopath on friday regarding my 'issues' (if you read this blog often you'll know what they are).  she suggested i go on the "paleo" diet, otherwise knows as the 'caveman' diet, as a sort of elimination of all foods that might in the least way be problematic for me.  this is a pretty popular eating regime at the moment, based on the fact that cavemen were a much healthier human race than our current average homosapien.  here's a little explanation i found online at "nerdfitness.com".

You see, tens of thousands of years ago, before Nike, Cap’n Crunch, and Healthy Choice meals, our ancient ancestors thrived as hunter-gatherers. Although it’s been a really long time, our genetics haven’t changed that much since then. The average Homo Sapien back then: tall, muscular, agile, athletic, and incredibly versatile.The average Homo Sapien now: overweight, out of shape, stressed out, unhappy, sleep deprived and dying from a myriad of preventable diseases.So what the hell happened? Agriculture! A few thousand years ago humans discovered farming, the agricultural revolution took off, and we advanced from hunter-gatherers to farmers. We settled down, formed societies, and the human race progressed to what we are today.

so, according to this diet philosophy if we all eat like cavemen and exercise more we will return to our pre-agricultural fitness levels.  i see a little problem.  although i'm now eating as a hunter-gatherer, i am neither hunting nor gathering (unless you can call a trip to costco gathering, which, after hunting for a parking spot, making my way through the jungle of options without going bankrupt, braving the cash lines, and running my son over with the cart in the parking lot, seems to come close).  i don't think my 20 minutes of jillian micheals will compare with a life of foraging for berries and chasing down wild boar. 

another thought, these ancestors of ours weren't only hunter-gatherers, they were hunted and gathered.  the weekly run-from-the-hungry-t-rex must have been great for muscular endurance!  i think they would gladly trade their healthy lifestyle of losing a limb to a giant predator for some tv and nachos. 

and writing a letter in stone - that takes muscles!

obviously i'm a bit cynical, and more than a little ticked off that now when we're invited to some one's house for dinner i have to say we're "gluten-, dairy-, tree nut-, grain-, and sugar-free".   that's more than two ENTIRE food groups people.  coming up with a meal list this week felt like a herculean effort. but it's done, and here's hoping my son quickly gets over his aversion to green foods.

and that i can say goodbye to cheese.  sniff.  when the naturopath said "no dairy" i put my head down on her desk and said "give me a moment to adjust".

i think this calls for a haiku.

goodbye cheese.

 

even though you make

me gasey, i do love you.

boursin, cheddar, brie.

 

glad i cannot have

a cracker or i'd miss you

terribly. good bye.

thankfully, this is only for the next six weeks.  at least, that's the current plan.  i was hoping to celebrate easter with chocolate (what could be holier?), but my lent will have to live on a little longer.

there is a silver lining i suppose:  i can still eat bacon.  if you're in the area, feel free to stop in for the bacon-wrapped vegetable of the day, and if you're lucky i'll let you see my six-pack once it arrives.

in with the old

we just returned from a whirlwind trip to BC, and i'm still feeling a little spinney.  the first few days were spent in washington, with scott's parents, at a time share in port townsend.  have you ever been there?  it's on the olympic peninsula - where coincidentally 'forks' also resides, but not to worry, i did not glimpse either a vampire, werewolf or sulking teenage girl.  the town is filled with architecture from the late 1800s, beautiful little shops, a couple lighthouses (one of which i was told you could rent for an evening), and many thrift stores chock-a-block full of rich peoples discards.  bliss! 

i have never been one for antiques.  my father versed me from an early age on the philosophy "why buy something old when you can get it new?".  i have this dear friend, however, who is winning me over to the old side.  her house (yes, lindsey, i'm talking about you here) is filled with little treasures snagged from garage sales or small town thrift.  every time i enter i take some time to walk around, feasting on the eye candy of little vignettes positioned just so - an antique vase with a fern planted in it beside a snow-globe-like-object containing a small plastic deer, a sea shell and a cloth covered book.  i look at that dear little deer, caught forever behind glass, and think 'how did she know'?  i never would have seen the possibility of greatness. 

but, i thought i'd give it a shot this week and i think that, for my first foray into an antique store (with the intention of buying something) i came out alright!  i bought four little student slates - those personal black boards students would use before paper was cheap.  i'm going to use them as place mats - i did tonight in fact.  and i wrote out the menu on one of them.  why not?  my daughter tried to read it off as the "big reveal" of dinner, but she didn't add enough theatrics so i had to take over.  "just to give you the general idea" i explained.  i can picture beatrice potter walking around lindsey's house and then running off in a fit of inspiration.  it's one of my favourite places in saskatoon (the fact that it's inhabited by one of my favourite people might also have something to do with it).

on the weekend two people referred to me as "lovely".  separately.  let me be clear - to different people at separate times told me that i'm "lovely".  what a treat!! i had that scene from downton abby play out in my mind, where edith says "if you think i'm going to let a man go who's called me "lovely" you're mistaken!" (or something to that effect).  it was on the tip of my tongue, but since i was complimented by a man that i hardly knew, it was a little too chancy. 

my my, i must be maturing -  thought before action!!! 

there is something sublime about being referred to by the word, like you've been transported back to an age when affirmations were a little higher brow.  i mean, usually i hear things like "dang girl!  you look hot in that skirt!".  "lovely" has a much more eloquent ring. 

truth be told, i'll take any positive affirmation that even flies close to me.
sadly, the same can probably be said about the opposite.  ah, well, one giant step towards maturity at a time, thank you very much.  i need to leave some room for growth in my 40s.