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0 Locked Down

  • January 22, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

Well, our lock down has just been extended. Not a surprise really but if you’re like me this is becoming a very long time without hugs from extended family and friends.

And don’t get me wrong… I have lots to do here in my personal ‘bubble’ and I love the person I’m locked up with! Maybe it was the days and days and days I spent putting together a year’s worth of family photographs in albums to pass the time. But I am truly missing my loved ones.

It seems tears are always just right there ready to cascade down if I allow myself to think about my parents and how long it’s been since we were together. And as annual travel plans continue to get quashed it hurts my spirit just a little bit more. We just cancelled our Spring trip east to be with our children and grandchildren. Don’t even get me started on how I’ll feel come May.

So I turn to more positive things in my life. The winter snows have already been here for quite some time and being the spoiled ‘snowbird’ that I am I’m not used to being here at this time of year. But this quote helps me feel more positive….

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?” ― John Steinbeck

Today I’m going to make myself a nice cup of tea and get back to illustrating my latest book. This is one wonderful way for me to pass many hours feeling enjoyment and also a great pleasurable feeling of accomplishment.

I guess we can sit upright and look around for the goodness in our lives as they are or we can settle down for a long winter’s nap and hope when we wake up this nightmare will be over.. ha ha. What will you do today?

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0 #Throwback Thursday : Me & Marie

  • January 21, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

I’m thinkin’ about my buddy, Marie, today.

I met Marie in 1982 when we both joined the cast of a children’s theatre company called “M & M For Kids” run by Heather Mitchell. I used to describe her as a ‘biker chick’ and I seemed to be her polar opposite. Marie knew me as a conservative, Catholic, mother of four, who liked to wear what she described as ‘foo foo’ clothes (too much ribbons and lace..ha ha).

It wasn’t long before we knew that we had very very similar tastes of humour and I would go out of my way to get her into trouble at the table reads by doing gross things to make her laugh (showing her my open mouth of food for example) and then smiling sweetly when she would get into trouble for interrupting the read with her pointing the finger at me like we were four years old. Ha!

Marie sort of adopted one character that she played called “Madame Amoré” and I adopted a character that I had auditioned for called “Mrs. Nitch”. Sometimes we would get dressed up as these crazy ladies and go downtown to spread the love. I specifically remember one Valentine’s Day when we burst into the children’s school with a basket full of Hershey’s Kisses and hugs for all and embarrassed our middle son SO badly. ( Don’t worry. He has since gotten me back in the embarrassing me department MANY times…ha ha) We loved pulling pranks like that (like when we took a photo of us together in my bedroom and made sure Terry found it…ha ha)Silly stuff but this laughter has been one of the glues of our friendship.

We did many many shows together where we got to wear cute costumes (as shown in the Hallowe’en and farm yard pics above)and sing silly songs for many school groups or other gatherings of children. Marie was a professional singer (still is!) but I was a professional actress by trade. She was a little nervous at first about performing on stage as a character actress.

One day Marie invited me to join her band called Escapade and that certainly put me outside my comfort zone. Although I had so much fun in the girl group where we sang 3 part harmonies of music throughout the ages with Joanne Clark(from the Andrews Singers to the Supremes!) I was nervous every time and would look at Marie like the proverbial deer in the headlights when I forgot my lyrics. She always graciously sang with me until I remembered the words to my solo.

In the blink of an eye 13 years had flown by and my hips were done. I needed hip replacements.

But my husband worked out of town and I had these four little ones, the youngest two being in grade one, and I knew I needed a live in helper. We couldn’t afford much and I didn’t know where to turn but Marie soon said to me, “What am I….chopped liver?” (Meaning that she would like the job!)

Marie was so incredible at taking care of the children, making me laugh, making sure I prayed, cleaning the house, (and even helping me lift my leg into bed), shovelling the walks, and SO much more….. that it was like the kids had two mothers. That’s when we started calling each other “Mother”.

Marie used to haul me and my wheelchair everywhere. And that thing wasn’t light! I have so many funny stories of the things she did to me when I couldn’t walk and it might sound cruel but I think she is hilarious. She once took me to see Santa in the mall against all objections. When Santa put his hand on my leg, told me he was a healer, and said to get up and walk (!) I thought Marie was going to take him out! “Back off, Santa, her husband will kill me if she breaks that hip!” she yelled as she wheeled me off the ramp with Santa chasing us through the mall. (He was just trying to give us a candy cane he said…ha ha ha)

She even took me to a class I as taking called “Bible Study Fellowship”. She would drop me off inside the church and wait outside in the cold while she smoked and patiently waited for the class to end. (Marie laughs about the day our twin girls gave her a note that asked her to stop smoking because smoking takes lives. And she recently mentioned about the time one of the girls had to write a story about their hero and they picked HER! Rightly so.) Marie didn’t really have a faith per se at the time of her taking care of me after my first hip replacement but she always made sure I continued to pursue my prayer life by handing me “the beads” even when I was too tired and sore to want to pray.

Today, Marie still lives in Calgary and is still singing and teaching music. She has visited me many times in Edmonton and taken care of me again after my fairly recent foot operation.She is still funny and kind and in contact with me almost weekly. She has a new dachshund doggie named Ollie.

And currently she attends Bible Study Fellowship.

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0 Change

  • January 20, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

And praying for a peaceful transition.

Not sure who to credit for this painting but it says a lot.

Peace .

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0 Your Home Is Your Castle

  • January 19, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

These are some of the homes that caught my eye as I walked or drove around Edmonton this past summer and fall. I was attracted to all ….except one : the “castle”. ha ha

We have many different styles of homes here from the poorest of the poor like any city and the grandest ones too. We have a new type of home here that we’re calling ‘skinny houses’ which are actually expensive infills that are popping up everywhere. Many of these appear to be ‘fishbowls’ filled with stairs. No curtains or blinds and you better have good knees! Very modern and they’re selling fast.

Skinny houses along 102 Ave., in Edmonton's Glenora neighbourhood on Wednesday.

I saw a movie the other night called Locked Down. It was the first movie I’ve seen that addresses our current Pandemic situation. It had everything in it from Zoom work calls that temporarily freeze up mid-sentence to the people on the calls drinking, smoking, and not wearing pants. ha ha. ( Very good movie on Crave by the way. )

What is going on in your house? Are you at peace or at war? Are you just going through the motions and waiting for ‘normal’ to return?

The powers that be are saying that this could be the new normal for quite some time. I am very blessed to live in a nice, loving home. But I don’t always have peace in my heart. I worry about my parents, my family, Covid, my friends and their safety, and my own health too.

Matthew 7:24-27 …..

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Let’s remember to speak a kind word to each other today. Your home can be your castle, a place of refuge from the storms of life.

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0 Be Not Afraid

  • January 18, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

We live in a time of anxiety. Not just because it’s 2021 . Not just because we lived through 2020. But because we live.

We all know that there is much to fear but the secret is not to dwell on those things. Every single one of us is actually dying…..someday. That is always somewhere in the back of our minds but the trick is to keep this anxiety there….at the back of our minds.

There are many ways to find peace. We can do things to quiet our minds and hearts. We can have that cup of tea and read a good book. We can spend less time on the internet. We can find happiness in nature…..

Have you heard the expression “Perfect love casts out fear”? (This comes from 1 John 4:18. ) I think the best way to conquer our anxieties is to stay close to God. I heard this morning that the most looked up bible verse in 2020 was….

English Standard Version
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

When we love we get out of our own fears and become more aware of the joy that comes from giving. When we love we are closer to God …who IS love. And God gives us the “peace that surpasses all understanding”. By staying close to God we don’t have to take the world’s worries on our shoulders. We can ‘live and move and have our being’ without fear. And we can try and bring peace to others in our lives…by our example and by reaching out to them with love.

Let’s give thanks today for our aging bodies, for our minds, for our abilities to trust that all will be well. Because when all is said and done we have much to look forward to …in this world …and in the next.

Be not afraid !

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0 Winter Picnic 2021

  • January 16, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

Have you ever been on a winter picnic?

Yesterday I was preparing myself for yet another day of hunkering down in the house during this lockdown period and Terry suggested we pack up our gear and head out to Elk Island for lunch.

It was a ‘balmy’ +2 and the sun was smiling on us. I can’t believe how full the trunk of our car was after we had finished loading it with the wood, the axe, blankets, chairs, the picnic , and a wagon to carry it all in!

It was a lovely drive out (about 45 minutes from our home) and the roads were dry. The grasses peeking out from the farmers’ fields were a golden delight and the snow shadows a royal blue as they traced the drifts. Aspens stood erect and cattails waved to us as we passed.

It always amazes me to see a buffalo roaming free at Elk Island. We saw 3 yesterday.

We didn’t end up using the wagon as we found a picnic spot right near the road.Terry built up a nice fire for us and I used the windshield scraper to clear off a picnic table for lunch. But we didn’t end up sitting at the table because with the wind chill off of the lake it became a very cold picnic area. Brrrr! We had to sit as close to the fire as we could get but we did wear the right layers for warmth in that regard so it was mostly o.k.. The coldest part for me were my hands. I would take my mittens off to eat the homemade soup we brought but had to immediately put them back on and try and get some dexterity going to maneuver the spoon into the cup and get it up to my mouth…ha ha ha.

Terry cooked the classic fire pit meal of hotdogs and we had them on the most yummy, homemade bread gifted to us from our daughter, Emily. We ended up staying at the site for about 1 1/2 hours surprisingly and except for the wind it was a great picnic.

I had to laugh at myself trying to get up from that flimsy lawn chair. My knees just don’t work anymore so I have to use my arms to push off of the chair arms. But my boots couldn’t find purchase on the snow covered ice. I finally managed to launch myself off but heard the cold plastic of the cup holder break to pieces and I almost fell face first into the fire! Terry just rolls his eyes and laughs because he is so used to this kind of thing. I’m not much help in the clean up department but we’re good company for each other and we make each other laugh every day.

You should try and go out for your own winter picnic. (But you might want to pick an even warmer day!)

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0 Blessings

  • January 15, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

Yes. It’s already been a long ‘winter’. Eleven months of Covid (that we know of….) and we’re still one world divided by this pandemic.

And our poor neighbours. I’m talking about other divisions…..the political circus we read about every day. Circus is too cheery a word. It is not fun to read about or look at the actions of those who are so divided and influenced by the darkness that they would kill 5 people to take what they want.

It makes me sad how we can’t even talk with each other about politics these days because there is no room for listening. Tempers flare in a moment and it’s ‘my way or the highway’ for some families now. Sad.

How can we possibly find goodness in all of this?

I like to remember that it could always be worse for one thing. I recently saw an article about what people had to endure if they lived through the Depression and WW1, WW2, and the Vietnam War among many other hardships. People TODAY are trying to survive wars, camps, genocide, and destructive weather. But no matter what happens I DO believe that there is something we can look for in our lives…….. blessings.

Let’s be happy if we have eyes to see beauty. Beauty in the eyes of our neighbour. Look up and see the clouds! We’re isolated but we can still enjoy the beauty of our surroundings. I can actually drive to the mountains! Or I can use my talents when I’m stuck inside for weeks at a time.

And let’s try and remember that the world hasn’t changed all that much. There have been insurrections since the time of Jesus. We can’t change people but we can change ourselves as they say. Let’s look for our blessings today and remember to say ‘thank you’. There is always a way to see goodness if you choose. And we can always choose to be kind.

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2 Photographs

  • January 14, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

I’ve been working on my photo albums this week.

Not gonna lie…I’ve had a few tears as I look through photos of our families and friends near and far. I miss them all so much and I try not to let my mind go to that dark place of fear. Covid news is scary, constant, and real.

Two days ago I lost another friend due to Covid, Fr. Mike McCaffery. “‘Death of a legend,’ ‘the passing of an era’ or ‘the end of an institution.’ These are all true,” said Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith in a press release. He was a great priest and friend. Thankfully, most of the families I know who got Covid have recovered. But now my Ontario families are in full lockdown mode too. It’s just so scary.

I printed off one year’s worth of photos. I decided to do it this way so that I would save another project for the long winter days that I normally avoid with a hot destination by now.

So I gaze with tenderness upon my children, their children, photos of my siblings, etc. from safer times and the longing in my heart is a strong pull. But I am glad that I take so many photos because it helps my memory to recall all the fun things we did together and it gives me hope that someday we will be together again…God willing in good health.

I have always done a ‘scrapbooking’ style of album so it takes me many hours to tape and configure the various pictures on each page and then label them. I think I’m up to Album # 72 of the ‘family’ albums. (I don’t do the “Laura and Terry travel” albums anymore. But I did put together two large albums from our SpiritLine Tour.)

And although I included the above statement about taking photographs I don’t actually think that is the only way we can feel close to those we love. I pray for my loved ones every single day and I feel close to them ..living and deceased… this way too.

I love that little graphic that turns 2021 into hope.

That’s what I’m going to do too….. I’m going to turn 2021 into the year of hope.

Peace.

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0 Musical Memories

  • January 13, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

The other day I finally got back to rehearsing my new music. I’ve been working on other artistic ventures (illustrations for a new children’s book) and/or cleaning the house from the Christmas finery removal.

I walked into the music room and took a moment to look at the pictures we have framed and up on the wall there.

I’ve been singing/performing publicly since I was a young girl but never could I have imagined that I would become a singer/songwriter. It was always my goal to be an actress(and I had many years of fun doing that work)and I did have a great time in musical theatre too. But songwriting and painting came about because of my disability and not being able to walk. What a blessing it has been!

I’ve been on three Canadian tours with my 3 albums, the last one being the most extensive with 36 concerts and playing every single province. It seems hard to believe that was already ‘way back’ in 2019..ha ha. And if Covid had started before we left for that last Tour we would probably never do it today. I have absolutely enjoyed the whole experience, seeing our beautiful country, and creating new music. And I already have another brand new album ready to hopefully record this year…if this lockdown ever ends.

I met so many great players and new friends through our shows and the best part was playing music with my talented family members. In the last photo you can see Terry’s best friend, Pete, on piano and drums, us, my sisters,Pam and Mary, on harmonies, and my brother,J.D., on lead guitar (at Pete and Denise’s house concert). Gosh, I miss them all so much.

I am always so happy when people have taken the time to let me know that the music moved them in some way. This has encouraged me to keep going as low self esteem/shyness about my talents and abilities can really make me question if this is what I’m meant to be doing. But if joy is reason enough then I must continue. I cannot stop smiling when I sing and I have found a great love for songwriting that has only increased over the years.

What are you doing to fill your days and your soul?

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0 Ordinary Miracle

  • January 12, 2021
  • by Laura Bachynski
  • · Blog

My bestie, Rose, sent me this Sarah McLachlan song which I have heard many times. Funny how I sometimes only really ‘hear’ a song if I can see the words.

Sarah McLachlan Lyrics

“Ordinary Miracle”

It’s not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when it’s time to snow
Don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift, they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up, and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

The birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
‘Cause we are all a part

Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle

Do you want to see a miracle

It seems so exceptional
That things work out after all
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

The sun comes out and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today

Let’s look around our world today and see the very ordinary but very extraordinary miracles that appear around us, in us, for us…… every single day.

Ordinary Miracle by Sarah McLachlan

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