Graveyards are a peaceful yet mysterious place. All these stories of people -- and no way to know them -- really
I love to walk among the headstones and read them and wonder what the person beneath the name looked like and what he did and what she died from and when and of course as a parent the tombstones of children tear at my heart I would very much love to know their stories and always, leaving a graveyard, I feel sombre and yet grateful to still be alive and still have my children with me haven't been there this year yet and last year the mosquitoes nearly sunked us dry when we stopped at a bench there to eat our takeout chinese when i told my neighbour once that i like to walk in graveyards and maybe one day would take a picnic basket she gave me a funny look as if that would not be quite decent her 17-year-old son is buried in a graveyard in hay river, nwt so maybe she has a different view of it than i she is also a practising and mindful catholic whether that has anything to do with it or not there is someone who travelled around alberta or maybe all of canada and took photos of tombstones. i think he did a little research on their life stories too. ok now i can't send this there is no joni content so what the hell do i do with it? i am not on the joni-not list feel kinda like i'm cheating by doing this, adding a joni at the end: my mother, who was born and raised in saskatchewan about 150 miles from Saskatoon (east instead of west, like Maidstone), is very close to Joni's age. She's 61. But the difference between the two of them is almost that of two different generations. My mom has led a conservative life, mostly on the farm although not any longer, and really seems like more of one of my grandparents' generation, while Joni seems more like my own (I'm 43) generation. does this make sense, am i getting my meaning across? i must have a notion that joni is sophisticatedly "cool" while my mother is not, definitely, though she is a beautiful and unique person of character although joni did not give off a coolness at the mendel oh no she was warm, like light, and a very gentle spirit from where i stood my mother is also a singer, the choir variety the kitchen chair or living room couch on xmas eve singsong initiator what a beautiful voice she has, deep and rich and warm and pitch-perfect she was a catherine mckinnon fan before catherine changed her style to jazz and my mother thought that was a mistake that cost her her fans, including mom ranger rick, you know who catherine mckinnon is do you guys stateside know of her? anyway catherine's early records are the kind of music my mom liked back then rick, are you guys fighting fires around vancouver too? it's bad here, there are three large forest fires out of control in alberta and they've been that way for weeks (correct me if my facts are wrong, rr, as we know they can be) and the volunteer firefighters are getting worn out. one of the fires is about 20 miles from my house the wind has whipped it up and shows no signs of giving us a damn break nor is the great spirit responding favourably to halfhearted prayers we need a serious rain dance kate <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Letter Out is a journal whatnot sent via email whenever I have time and inclination. Receive it automatically by replying to this email with "Subscribe" in the Subject box. To unsubscribe, put "Unsubscribe" in the subject box. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
