1.
How many more swims, how many more mornings walking down under the maples and Douglas firs to see the little islands in the distance, the ones we swam to the summer before last, how many more loons on the far side, warbling as though to say goodbye. How many. This morning there were fresh deer tracks right in the sand where I leave my towel. A trout jumped. The swallows have gone. In the water I am light as air.
2.
Too many shootings. Too many reports, too many newsreaders telling us the names.
3.
I’ve spent part of the week gathering images as my book progresses towards publication. (Jessica Sullivan and Naomi Macdougall at https://dsgn-dept.com/about designed a beautiful cover.) I had to search an old notebook for one in particular and then I had to think about an author shot and I had to think about the young woman at the heart of this story and the one in the notebook and the ones in the folder of photographs of me to choose from. And we are all the same.
4.
When the cat raced to hide behind the washing machine, I knew the bear was around. I heard it trying to climb a grapevine, then when I opened the door, I smelled its dark odour. From the upper deck, John saw it in the crabapple tree, but when I came up, it was ambling down the driveway.
5.
Yes, the bear is around.
...Theresa Kishkan 