June 28 - The Guests Who Eat And Run At The Orchard Avenue Street Gathering

Block parties aren't meant
for people just passing through
We gulp 'dogs and go

June 27 - The Paddleboard Adventure Goes Better Than We Had Hoped, Although Next Time We'll Bring More Towels

Van piled high with stuff
We take Rosie to the beach
While the parents play

June 26 - No One Will Ever Accuse The Cabinet Maker Of Being Overly Worried About Imposing His Musical Tastes On Those Who Live Here

With The Q blaring
I flee the scene, escaping
to tranquil Willows

June 25 - Pity The Home-Based Worker In A Borrowed House During A Kitchen Reno In Which The Cabinet Maker Arrives With A Generator

I don't need silence
But this noise? Good grief. I flee
to walk with Rosie

June 24 - I Log Six Whole Hours At The Computer, A Mere Nothing In Days Gone By But A Long Time Coming Lately

Finally, I work
Weeks since I've been able to
Neck and arm hold up

June 23 - Darlene And I Convene Over A Walk To Summit Park In The Prep Stages For The Big Perogy Project

We talk perogies
Hundreds of them, enough to
satiate the Chows

June 22 - Rosetta Conducts Herself Admirably On Her First Shopping Trip, Although A Breast-Feeding Break On The Food Court Patio Eases Things

She takes in the mall
With wide-open baby eyes
Soothed by the muzak

June 21 - In Which We End Three Weeks Of Living In Different Houses in Different Towns And Are Together Again

A couple once more
Lazy day, then beach picnic
In the sun's last rays

June 20 - If It's Saturday, This Must Be Oak Bay: Onward Into Another Housesit And Pet Minding

Theo is baying
I know the trick: Food, walk, treats
Dogs give in quickly

June 19 - One Of Those Frequent Occasions In Which I Leave For An Appointment At The Right Time If I Was Driving. But I'm Not

The thing with cycling:
It's not as fast as by car
This fact eludes me

June 18 - The Scattered Life Leaves Me No Choice But To Cycle Home From Oak Bay On A Dark(ish) And Stormy Night

Is a good burger
Worth a cold, wet ride in gloom?
My soaked butt says no

June 17 - And To Think We Wondered If Rachelle And Aaron Would Be Back Home Quickly After Their Morning Appointment With The Occupational Therapist

Phyllis is charming
But vinyl slabs and car seats
Simply can't be rushed

June 16 - The Incomparable Joy Of Seeing Rosetta Alert And Happy On Her Pillowy Hospital Bed

Those eyes! Such relief
To see the purple princess
Holding court bedside

June 15 - We Are All In A State Of Overwhelming Anxiety On The Eve Of Rosetta's Big Day

There's only one thing
on my mind today, as much
as I may pretend

June 14 - A Day At The Cumberland Side Of Comox Lake With No One To Rush Me And A Lot Of Happiness At Having Purged The Recyclables

I ditch the children
For many sunny hours
Back at my teen haunt

June 13 - The Kind Of Guy Who I Was Hoping Would Check Out Our Vehicle Shows Up And Doesn't Much Like It

Mr. RV tech
Why won't you like my RV?
Dreams of quick sales: Gone

June 12 - It's A Back-to-Back Sleepover Weekend

The sleepover's on
Rosie's on my mind, but boys
are good distractions

June 11 - Paxton And I Do A Driving Lesson

A first: My grandson
is driving me in his car
His first highway ride

June 10 - One Of Those Days When Word Comes Down About Rosetta And It's All Just Too Much

Sorrow has found me
Burdened by my children's tears
I cry for lost dreams

June 9 - While It's All A Little Last-Minute, The Year-End Band Concert With Everyone In Hawaiian Dress Works Out All Right

Zac turns out to be
pretty fly for a white guy
Though there's just two songs

June 8 - $40 And We're Only Half An Hour Late For Picking Up Zac

The car overheats
But the angels are smiling
Cheap repairs done fast

June 7 - The Kids And I Head Off To Our Favourite Comox Lake Spot Only To Discover The Tree Root Washed Away And The Raft Has A Hole In It

Even fallen trees
Can't be counted on to stay
Claimed by high water

June 6 - First Swim Of The Year If You Don't Count Nicaragua

I'm drawn to the rocks
like a cold-blooded thing; yin
to the rivers yang

June 5 - What Dinner For Five Looks Like When Everyone Is Feeling Frugal

So it comes to this:
Two four-item combos from
Quality Foods

June 4 - When Everyone In The Family Needs Something From You, It's Hard To Make Time For What Pays

I should be working
I say that a lot these days
It changes nothing

June 3 - I Arrive In The Valley To A Scene That Is Familiar Yet Strange And Overly Intense, A Theme That Appears To Be Dominating Life Right Now

Northward, where Maggie
cries to see me. I will be
a nurse for a week

June 2 - Rosetta Sits For Well Over An Hour Looking Totally Enchanted To Be Invited To The Hepburn- Reath-Paterson Girl Gathering

She's clearly a Chow
Soothed by loud laughs and tall tales
Shared by her aunties

June 1 - Tell Me Why You Support Sex Workers' Rights, I Ask, Pointing My Camera At Them

Relax, I tell them
And mostly they do, though some
Need two takes or more

May 31 - Well, At Least Waiting Two Months For My CT Scan Gave Me Time To Heal From The Problem I Wanted To Have Diagnosed

Chances are I've healed
When I can ride my bike out
to have my spine scanned