Sunrises, Sunsets, And Crocodile Clouds In The Sky...

Hi.



Sooooo, here where I live, we had our election. It went the way some wanted, and not the way others wanted. Such is life in a democracy.

The reactions have been, in a word, predictable.

There is a lot of doomsday talk of how we are all screwed, splitting up the country, a tone of speech fuelled by fear.


I am choosing to look at it this way. After this election, we have been left with a minority government. This will force co-operation. In the history of our Country, it's been when we have a minority government that the best and biggest changes have happened.

I am choosing to be optimistic. I am choosing to be hopeful.


The sun will still rise, the sun will still set, take a breath, and find the crocodile clouds in the sky.


We still live in a great country where you can go to the doctor without worrying about money. You can get mammograms, and ultrasounds, dialysis, and chemo. A country where you don't have to lose your home to save your life.


We still live in a great country where our kids don't have to suffer through active shooter drills, they don't have lead in their water, they aren't being chased from their homes by war, they can live a fearless life, laying on their backs in the grass, finding their own crocodile clouds in the sky. 


We still live in a great country where we can breathe our pristine air, swim in our countless lakes, explore our three oceanic shores, and celebrate every culture that chooses to call us home.


Are we perfect? Far from it. All you have to do is dip into social media to see that.

Fear breeds anger, anger breeds hate, hate can never be what we stand for.

We are far from perfect.

Case in point, the Noble indigenous peoples of this awesome place. A people to whom we owe every respect. A people who we can only hope will, some day, be able to forgive the heinous treatment they received at the hands of our history.

We all know what abuse can do to a single child, a single person. It breaks them. It weaves into the fabric of who they become thereafter. We did that. To all those who were living here, peacefully, before we showed up all those years ago. We continued to do it for years, for generations. We kidnapped their children and put them into institutions of abuse. The last 'school' closing in 1996.

We performed surgical cultural genocide for over 100 years. The last of the worst of it as recently as 23 years ago.

We all know what abuse can do to a single child, a single person. Imagine what it does to a century of generations of an entire culture.

"Getting over it" isn't an option.

Am I professing to have all the answers? No. But, I can do what I can do. Treat everyone with compassion, lifting others up whenever and wherever I can.

I have had the privilege of visiting schools all over this beautiful province. I have visited the schools in small towns, not-so-small towns, Hutterite colonies, cities, and indigenous communities.

This is what I know. The fairytale that all kids are playing on an even field when it comes to education is just that, a fairytale. Not all schools are created equal.

If we want our kids to do better. We need to give ALL of them the tools they need to do so. Period.

For now, the sun will still rise, the sun will still set, let's all take a breath, and find the crocodile clouds in the sky.


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Until next time....

May you, when you feel shrouded in cynicism, break free. allow yourself to see the sun.
May you give yourself permission to let the heaviness slide, grip the happy, have some fun.

May we all, in a world seemingly run by clueless clowns, keep in focus what lives closest to our hearts.
May we know we can still care deeply about the tragedies of the world without them breaking us apart.

May we all gain some perspective, no matter your situation, someone will look at your life and see a dream.
May we slip into the rosie glasses of our childhoods, for just a sec, nothing is ever as bad as it first seems.

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www.margyreidbooks.com






https://www.amazon.ca/Once-Broken-Margy-Reid-ebook/dp/B071HTFTX6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27ESPSCRS2OQ&keywords=once+broken&qid=1571949140&sprefix=once+broken%2Caps%2C311&sr=8-1

An Evil Traitor, Or A Complete Moron, You Pick...

Hi!


I know, more Autumn pics, but in my defense, it's pretty. The leaves are dropping at a rapid pace now, so there won't be many more. Really.


So......




In the part of the world I call home, we are days away from a federal election. This brings out all of the "They're worse than we are" speeches, big promises, and a lot of avoidance of answers to direct questions.

As interesting as our politics are right now, we can't hold a candle to the drama going on a bit south of us.

I've probably heard the phrase "Quid Pro Quo" more often in the past week than I have throughout the entirety of my life. I'm 53

The clearest definition of the phrase, so far,  was given by a Chief of staff guy named Mick. Apparently, he got his peepee slapped once he got off stage because later on, people were pissed off that cameras recorded what he said, played it back, and had the audacity to put that forth as what he said. How dare you record me at a press conference, ask me questions, and then publicize the answers.


Then. there is the scary matter of the guy in the Whitehouse making life and death military decisions on a whim one Sunday night. This, in turn, causes a shit storm of biblical proportions, with ramifications that will likely be felt for years to come.

Pull troops. check.
Pull them so quick they have to blow up their bases. check.
Roll out red carpet for Russians to take up residence in every base left. check. (videos featuring Russian soldiers goofing around in said bases are very popular)
Leave the door open for Turkey to basically extend their border like they have been wanting to do for years. check.
Leave second door open for Russia. check.
Leave back door open for Iran. check.
Guards keeping ISIS guys in prison are called to defend the border. A reboot of 'Escape from Alcatraz"  ensues. check.

Then, the guy who has just finished beating the living crap out of the smallest kid in the schoolyard wants some kind of credit for calling an ambulance.

Before you start slow dancing Pence and Pompeo around the Oval Office, you should probably look at some footage from the Syrian border, that so-called cease-fire lasted about ten minutes. 5 more dead this morning.

Then, through the chaos, by some miracle, both donkeys and elephants got together, voted and agreed, with the exception of a few, to condemn the insanity.

The Cheeto threw a tantrum. People who have served 3 or more presidents, donkeys and elephants alike, were freaked out by how he acted. That's probably not a good sign.

So to wrap up the week.

Cheeto,
You pulled protection away from your friends, so people who are not really your friends could stretch their borders. (How's that Trump Towers Turkey deal going, by the way, still a go?)
This gives Russia and Iran an in.

In doing so, a bunch of ISIS people are, once again, in the wind, free to reorganize, regroup, reboot.

In the time you were holding your breath, sitting on the money for Ukraine until they said uncle about Biden, people died. A lot of people. Moms, Dads, kids. People. Did they need to be cleaned out too?  (One of your new phrases about Kurds that's gonna follow your ass.)

Now either you know all of this, and did it anyway, which makes you an evil traitor, or you're a complete moron. You pick.

By the way, your mini-me giving a lecture on the evils of nepotism, was frickin' hilarious. Oh, and it looks like you should start shopping around for yet another 'fixer', looks like Guiliani might be keeping Cohen company soon.




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A side note. Apparently, there is some kind of counter-protest being put together by a bunch of grown people in Semi Trucks. They are protesting a 16-year-old girl who is traveling the world, trying to draw attention to what scientists are saying about climate change.

This baffles me a bit. If you are trying to make the point that the oil industry isn't the enemy of the environment, why protest against science? I guess I'm having trouble accepting this has to be an either/or situation.

I like to think that the oil industry and environmentalists will find common ground. No one's goal is to destroy nature. No one's goal is to live without heat. Start there?


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Fellow voters:

May you make your decision as it aligns with your heart.
May you align you vote with your passion, albeit finances, health care, or art.

May you not let apathy keep you from the booth, if your casting aside your right, make sure it's for a real reason.
May you understand, no matter the outcome, everything is temporary, everything has a season.

May we, once it's all over, once again be friends, not everything is politics, not everything needs to be argued to death.
May we, once it's all over, once again be friends, let's take a beat, a step back, a breath.


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Until next time...

www.margyreidbooks.com

https://www.amazon.ca/Once-Broken-Margy-Reid-ebook/dp/B071HTFTX6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=X3X0HRXCAF75&keywords=once+broken&qid=1571427042&sprefix=once+broken%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-1

A Time To Be Thankful...

                               

                                   

             


                           Hi!

    Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canucks! No matter where you live, no matter if Thanksgiving exists where you live, being grateful is always a good idea.

Gratitude looks different for everyone. What you're grateful for, how you express it, 

When I look around the globe, the war, the wildfires, the violence, it can be easy to fall into a place where it can be hard to see something to be grateful for.

The devastated people being displaced, scrambling for some semblance of safety. Their very lives being threatened by hellfire. 

When I look at all of this, my heart hurts for all of them. When I look at all of this it brings into focus the things that matter. The things for which I am most grateful.

Where I live I am free to travel wherever and whenever I wish without fear of being cut down by a rapid-fire gun, without fear of bombs dropping, without fear. I am forever grateful to those who have and continue to make that possible.

I have the means to buy and put together ingredients to bake cookies for my family. I have appliances to assist in making that happen with limited effort. I am forever grateful that I live in a place where hard work is generally rewarded.

I get to put my thoughts together in these ramblings on a regular basis. I get to express these thoughts freely without threat. I am able to receive messages, questions and opinions from all over the world, both positive and not so positive. I am grateful every day to those who read these thoughts and those who take the time to engage. 

I get to take time to smell the flowers. Yes, life is busy, life is hectic, but I live in a place where, when there is time, I get to spend it with family, taking walks in the cool autumn air, watch movies, sing karaoke, or anything else I might like to do. I am so grateful to have spare time, even if it's not a lot. I still have it.

I get to write. I get to sip a beverage while I do it, if I wish. I get to watch little faces light up and giggles spill. I get to be part of the bedtime ritual that takes place in thousands of homes on almost every continent. I get to be part of story mats in libraries and schools whether or not I'm physically there. I've been honoured by the stories of the different ways "Everyday Wishes" has hit home. I've been humbled by feedback from the readers of "Once Broken," about how, although it's fiction, it hits close, almost too close to reality for some. When I allow myself to think about it, it's easy to be overwhelmed. Probably why I don't allow it very often. 

I am so incredibly grateful. For all of it. The busy, the quiet, the hard, the easy, the good, the bad, all of it. 

I'm grateful for the hardships that taught me what I needed to know to get me here. I'm grateful for today's lessons that will lead me to where I'm meant to go. 

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Until next time...

May you find something for which to be truly grateful.

May you see it need not be big, the smallest thing to start, a warm bed, a dinner plate full.

May you, if it's not easy, look a little closer, what you see as hardship, is likely another's blessing. 

Maybe, for now, it's simply that you can be fearless in the thoughts you are expressing.

May you see, no matter how dark, how hard, how painful your life seems,

May you see that to someone else, the life you get to live, would be the life of their dreams. 

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www.margyreidbooks.com 

https://www.amazon.ca/Once-Broken-Margy-Reid-ebook/dp/B071HTFTX6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=A391TUP8X9LE&keywords=once+broken&qid=1570830239&sprefix=once+broken%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-1

          

America, We Miss You, Get Well Soon...

Hi!


Man, how things can change in just a few days. The snow pics are from Monday, the others were taken this morning.


Here in Canada, we have a big election coming up very soon. There, of course, is no shortage of information and misinformation available to support or smear each and every candidate/party.

It takes a fair amount of diligence to distinguish between the two. Do yourself the favour of doing just that. Then, take advantage of your right to vote for whoever lines up most closely with your personal ideals.

We all know campaign promises, regardless of whose mouth generates them, are, by design, spoken to try and drum up votes. We all know this. To me, that is why we have to look at everything else. The way they've lived their adult lives up to this point, the way they've treated others, the policies they've passionately championed, the intent that drives them. How much of what they've done aligns with my own beliefs, my own ways of thinking, my own values?

For your own sake, do your due diligence. Then vote, or don't, it's your right.


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Regardless of how crazy our election seems to us, in comparison, what is going on below the 49th is just plain scary.


Even if you eliminate everything. All the texts and emails, the phone calls, all of it. Even if we just go on what has come out of the mouth and fingers of the guy who lives in the White House, he has done things that, if aren't an out and out crime, walk the line between legal and illegal like a blindfolded, amateur, drunk tightrope walker.

Shouldn't the standard for the office of the President of the United States aim just a titch higher than not quite illegal?

To get an idea of how the world sees all of this, all you had to do was watch the face of the President of Finland during their joint press conference the other day. In a nutshell.

I can't help but wonder, if everything you've done, if the conversations and interactions with Ukraine, China, Russia, and the Saudi Prince are so "perfect", why are you going to such lengths to hide them? To put them into a digital vault historically used only for things that reach an astronomic level of security, things that can mean life and death. There is a standard, a level that needs to be reached for things to qualify as important enough to be held here.

Phone calls wherein your own words paint you as an unethical mobster who likes to flirt with extortion don't cut the mustard.

It will be interesting to see what has yet to be uncovered.

It will be interesting to see and hear how many holes the guy who lives in the White House will shoot in his own ship.

It will be interesting to see how many of his "guys", well, how many more, really, will begin to sing.

It will be interesting to see how many of his supporters will be willing to go down with the sinking ship.

It will be interesting to see how our great-grandkids will assess this moment in history.

Man, how things can change in a few days...


America we miss you, get well soon.


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May every truth see the light of day, then dance triumphantly in the sun.
May those who know it, tell it, so you can live with yourself when all is said and done.

May we, all of us, as citizens, be given the unfiltered truth as a default, without fail.
May we, with open minds, accept truth, even if it's hard to hear, whatever it may entail.

May we, at the end of this circus, live in a much more united, peaceful, place.
May we do so, we need it, every person, every religion, creed, and race.


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www.margyreidbooks.com


https://www.amazon.ca/Once-Broken-Margy-Reid-ebook/dp/B071HTFTX6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PE5X82P87V7Y&keywords=once+broken&qid=1570218738&sprefix=once+broken%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-1