Author Archives: Judith Pettersen

The long and winding roadThat leads to your doorWill never disappearI’ve seen that road before The Beatles song, Long and Winding Road, might be about love, loss and loneliness.  But as I travelled from northern Manitoba to the town of Whistler BC, the title took on a whole new meaning.   I”m fairly sure that IContinue reading “The Road to Whistler”

The whisper runs through the garden like a faint breeze, lightly masked by the nighttime serenade of frogs and insects.  It begins with the frantic mumbling of the smallest beet at the very end of the row.  “The dandelion!” it cries, in a tiny, frightened voice.“Dandelion!” mocks a tall bean plant, its tone scornful andContinue reading “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (with apolgies to John Berendt)”

Every morning, for at least the past six weeks, a cheerful little robin perches on the high wire above our back alley and sings its little heart out.  This tiny harbinger of spring puts everyone in the mood for summer.  A friend who knows about birds told me why they sing so hard, and whyContinue reading “May I Have This Dance”

There are some things I’ve discovered over the course of my life.  Some, I’ve known for a while.  Other are just becoming  apparent to me.  Maybe life has to slap you around a little before you discover the truth about yourself.  Like the fact that I’m a slow learner.  And that I’ll never skate inContinue reading “Regrets, I’ve Had A Few”

About a week after my dad died, I felt the  Earth tilt.  I stepped out of bed one morning and fell toward the ceiling.  My whole world was upside down and spinning.  It was like riding a tilt a whirl at the fair.   I am living with Vertigo.  It’s often connected with blurred visionContinue reading “Balancing Act”

Last night I dreamed about my dad.  He passed on a week ago, Saturday.  For the first moments when I wake in the morning, I forget that he’s gone.  I feel the weight of something pressing on my heart, and I wonder at it.  That’s when I remember.  I lie there, feeling the loss ofContinue reading “I’ll Be Seeing You”

In the movie, The Hunger Games, the main characters spend a lot of time running for their lives. Its a little like the game of Survivor, except the voting is done with weapons and its not just your torch that gets snuffed. For thousands of years, human kind has loved a good contest. Think gladiators.Continue reading “The Aging Games”

Now that I’m spending more time in Winnipeg, I’ve been struggling once again with an inability to find the way to and from…anywhere.  It’s like someone has taken a sponge and wiped out parts of my brain.  A number of years ago, I couldn’t find the Sport-ex in the town of Creighton.  I had toContinue reading “Show Me The Way To Go Home”

      Its been creeping up on me for a long time.   I finally have to acknowledge something that my children have known about me for awhile.  Like my father before me, I’ve begun whining about How Much Things Have Changed.  Sure, I never walked five miles to school, uphill both ways, inContinue reading “Uphill, Both Ways”

     I am aware of the fact that I have a good life.  This is true for most of the people I know, though all of us face adversity from time to time.  Still, I’m going to whine a little about something that my life is  missing.  In order to have it, Apple would haveContinue reading “The Sound of Your Life”