Sophia Bonnie Wodin

I was packing to leave my daughter’s home.   We had arrived the evening before having dodged two blizzards.  It’s a drive of about 10 - 12 hours. But soon after we arrived one of us felt ill. And then tested positive for COVID.  (FYI: We had blessedly mild cases.) As I re-packed, hoping to leave before we infected the household, a thought appeared: “This is what love looks like today…” Since then I have been looking at my life and actions from the point of view of: What does love look like now? Picture this….. It’s the holiday season. Your preparations are complete. The larder is filled to overflowing (who knew a fridge could hold so much?). Friends and relatives come and go. Like the tides.  Now.  Drop a snowstorm into the scene. Everyone’s plans have gone poof! Dissolved as Naomi Shahib Nye said, “like salt in a weakened broth…” But not ours. We had planned to stay home. A beloved arrived by train and Uber, the only methods of transportatio...

  I was whirling around the house the other week, both focused and madly whizzing through my To Do list in preparation for leaving on a greatly hoped-for vacation. Oh! The to-do list was long.  But it was still November and here in SW Ontario while we had had a few hard frosts, in our protected micro-climate of a yard, there were still a few snapdragons and strawflowers and a splendid out-of-season blue iris.  I allowed myself to become distracted. The flowers had called and heeding their call, I cut and arranged them to grace the many household altars and honour our household deities. As I cut and arranged and placed, I thought about each altar honouring a deity or an aspect of our lives. Here’s Lakshmi , the Hindu Goddess of abundance in Her place of honour over the fireplace. A small statue of Her stands near one of the doors. Tara , shows up in both the Buddhist and Hindu pantheon. Another version of Her shows up in Irish stories. She of the Seat of Power...