Life Extension 101

I cycled 10 miles in 27 minutes yesterday!  A year ago, I could barely do half that.  I walked into our communal gym, and climbed onto a stationary bike, pedalling to nowhere, slowly.  I've lost a lot of inhibitions about exercising in public, lost a little weight, and gained a whole lot of energy! 

One of my highschool friends asked if I was training for a marathon, and I said, "yes, the next 40 years of my life!"  I want to live to be over one hundred!  Exercise, a healthy diet, creative expression, being surrounded with great people, and being at peace, are my prescriptions for a long, and authentically happy life. 

I treasure this charming serving bowl, for the happy little bluebirds, cherry blossoms and indigo blue border...Disney in Provence.  More than one guest this Summer, has enjoyed lemon yogurt, with fresh strawberries, raspberries or blueberries served from this cheery bowl.

The deep bowl was handpainted by a Toronto woman when she was in her eighties.  In her lovely handwriting, she signed the year, and her name on the back: Rachel Aronov, 2000.  I would like to think she continued her art for many more years.  The joy she received in painting, would surely have added years to her life.  

Excercise is great...and for me, creative expression is essential.  I often say I would have gone mad without photography, and all my other art projects.  I am not alone.  So many of my friends have found the peace and joy, and energy that comes with creative expression.   Through photography, painting, drawing, carving, making jewelry, singing, playing guitar, playing piano, dancing, writing, cooking, baking, and gardening - my friends and I have found the fountain of youth!  

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widows Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Saying "Yes" to Living!

After years of saying, "no" to almost every invitation to do anything, I am at last saying, "yes"!  For the first time in years, I have no real responsibilities.  The freedom is exhilerating!  It's as if the skies have opened up, and everything is illuminated by brilliant sunshine!   

I was telling an old friend this weekend, that I feel like a sixteen year old, with the whole world open up to me.  It's all so new to me: undiscovered experiences, and so much to learn!  I don't need a Valedictorian to tell me that the world is mine to discover...I'm already out the door!  

I've been thinking a lot lately, about what I'd really like to do with the next thirty or more years of my life...and where in the world I'd like to be.  Stay in Toronto, where I have many beautiful friends?  It's great to walk into a place, and have everyone call out my name, like Norm on Cheers.  I have meaningful relationships with my TO friends.  They've been there for me, and me for them.  We keep our spirits up, encourage each other, and have formed deep, lasting bonds.  

Maybe, I'll travel the world with my camera, following the Summer season, like a sun worshipping nomadic gypsy?  Or, follow in my Dad's footsteps, and take a luxurious ocean liner across the sea, or set sail for distant shores!  France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Greece all call my name...my full name...in capital letters...with an exclamation mark!

My heart and soul have always been on the Westcoast of Canada.  My true home is there, where the mountains meet the sea.  I have longed for the coast for nearly three decades.

I love Vancouver, with it's tree lined streets of cherry blossoms - ribbons of pink from February 'til May!  It is a garden city, with flower and vegetable gardens in yards, and on sundecks in every neighbourhood.  The parks are a floral photographer's vision of paradise!  The city's beaches are home to sun worshippers.  The sailboats and floating homes in the city's safe harbours, the seagulls and eagles soaring in the skies above, the world class restaurants, cafes, and farmers' markets, and wonderful places to walk or cycle, all make Vancouver a very liveable city! 

One of my wonderful Brazilian friends, has taught me the joy of  being spontaneous.  We'll be talking about doing something, and he'll say, "Let's go!"  And I'm there!  Just like that!  For a control freak, who plans, and changes plans, and plans again - this is life changing!

I live with three bright, vibrant, engaging twenty-somethings who go out at ten o'clock at night!  That's usually when I'm coming home from an evening out!  Even when I was a twenty something, I was home by midnight.  There's a whole other time zone out there, that I've yet to discover!

Last week, one of my extraordinary neighbours had free tickets to a ballet dress rehearsal with The National Ballet of Canada.  Normally, I would have thought about all the fuss of getting dressed up, and heading downtown, and just stayed home.  This time, I said, "yes"!  I actually had fun getting dressed up!  We attended an eye opening lecture before the performance...and saw three back to back ballets:  Paz de la Jolla, The Man in Black and Cacti.

I loved the tribute to Johnny Cash, in The Man in Black:  an ensemble of four ballet dancers in cowboy boots (honestly!), stomping, "square dancing", and line dancing, to Johnny Cash singing Lennon and McCartney's In My Life, Canadian Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds, and Torontonian Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind, among other songs.  It was unlike any ballet I had ever seen, and I loved it! 

Paz de La Jolla, created by New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer and board member, Justin Peck, was a day at the beach!  Peck grew up in California, and quickly rose to fame with the New York City Ballet, a company founded by European George Balanchine, who sought to give his company an American "look and feel" with tall, long-legged, athletic ballerinas (I know this, because I attended the pre-performance lecture).

Peck has not strayed from the late founder's vision.  The dancers wore bright, neon Summer swimsuits, and volleyball beachwear, and their movements recreated the spirit of a day in the sun and surf.  As day turned to night, dancers in opalescent, diaphanous costumes moved like moonlight on the crests of waves. This week, the Toronto Star gave the ballet four stars!

This Summer, I too will be walking along sundrenched beaches, and photographing glorious gardens, as I head to the Westcoast for three wonderful weeks of being with old friends and new, doing things I did as a kid, and things I've never done before.  YES!!!!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Magnolias for Mammas

Wishing a Happy Mothers' Day to mothers, mothers-to-be, grandmothers, stepmothers, mothers-in-law, surrogate mothers, and honourary mothers!  I've probably caught you with a mouthful of eggs benedict, or breakfast-in-bed-pancakes, but I just wanted to say, thank you for the difference you make in the world!  

Every day, young mothers share with me their pride in their children, and their secret fears for those same children.  Raising children to be the best they can be, takes strength, vitality and presence.  The energy needed to just listen at the end of a long work day, let alone prepare dinner, help with homework, and do the laundry, would zap most people.  That mothers do this day after day, seven days a week, for years is awesome!  As for presence...you really have to live in the now, and know the difference between a teaching moment, and a moment that is simply meant for you to just be.

It also takes highly developed research skills, and a strong sense of what to take to heart, and what to throw out with the bath water.  To hover, or not to hover?  To encourage their interests, or a diversity of interests?  To take on the school bully, or let them learn to fight their own battles?  I've heard many mothers say how overwhelmed they are with everyone's opinons about how to raise their children.  Nothing makes these women happier than watching their child make the right choice, and be their best.  

That doesn't stop when the kids move away from home.  Just because they're old enough to vote, or have children - or grandchildren of their own, doesn't mean that mothers stop worrying, offering advice, or praise.

My Mum was quiet.  She was also hard of hearing.  Nevertheless, she was observant, and had a highly developed sense of people's body language and facial expressions.  She could read people, and subtly shared her knowledge with me.  In later years, when she lost most of her ability to speak, her naturally expressive eyes would tell us so much of what we needed to know.

It's ironic that I - a multi-sensory being - who surrounds herself with sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, is the daughter of a woman who lost, or was deprived of most of these senses.  I love perfume, the fragrance of flowers, and the smell of cookies baking in the oven.  Mum lost her sense of smell when she was seven years old.  Although she was an amazing cook and baker, who made her own bread (ground her own flour), preserves, jams, mustard and mayonnaise, she survived for eighteen years on a feeding tube, unable to taste anything.  She was hard of hearing, which didn't stop her from playing music.  We would come home from school to find her listening to our record albums while ironing (big Fleetwood Mac fan).  She became profoundly deaf in her last years.  Two massive strokes robbed her of feeling on her right side, yet, she never lost her sense of touch in her left hand...a hand I held until a few hours before she died.     
 

Ours was a home that other kids came to, to play and eat.  It was a safe place to be.  A great place if you were hungry for a bowl of soup, or some cookies.  Mum loved having us at home, and welcomed all of our friends around the table.  I see pictures of my young friends' homes, with neighbourhood kids' boots and shoes in piles at the door, or kids sharing sandwiches on the back porch...and I know how blessed those children are!

Mum ironed a lot.  With four kids and a husband who needed fresh pressed shirts every day, she was always ironing.  When we were younger, she also embroidered flowers on our blouses, and sewed many of our dresses by hand. 

So, our teenaged years in the early '70s were especially painful for her.  One sunny Spring morning, as we crowded into the laundry alcove near the back door, putting on our shoes, she looked at each one of us in exasperation.  My siblings wore jeans and t-shirts.  I was wearing a robin's egg blue knit top and matching skirt...with camel coloured desert boots and a World War I soldier's torn canvas kitbag as a purse.  In our own defence, we explained that, "all the kids dress like this".  To which she replied in her French Canadian accent, her voice choking with emotion, "it's to whom will look de stupid!"  

No contest - she was the best!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Hanukkah and White Flowers

 

As the sun sets across land and sea, around the world tonight, candles are lit to mark the beginning of eight days of Hanukkah.  Hanukkah is Hebrew for "dedication", and the Jewish festival of light, commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem.

In 168 BC, the new king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes ordered all Jews to convert to worshipping Greek gods, or die.  His army marched into Jerusalem, and massacred thousands.  The temple became an altar to the Greek god, Zeus, and pigs were slaughtered within its walls. 

Jews turned to guerrilla warfare, to retake the desecrated temple.  When it came time to rededicate the temple, they only had enough oil to burn for a day.  It is called a miracle, that the oil burned for eight days, giving them time to get another supply of oil.  Hanukkah.  Dedication.  The burning of candles for eight days.  The festival of light.  

In warmer climates, white and blue flowers are often found in Jewish homes at Hanukkah.  The floral arrangements may include tall stems of bright white lilies and blue delphiniums, or an arrangement of white freesia with blue iris.  Summer's delphiniums and Spring irises are not readily available in Toronto at this time of year.  White lilies and white orchids, which are grown in greenhouses, are more easily found!

"They tried to kill us.  We won.  Let's eat!"  Food is a big part of Hanukkah, and foods fried in oil (are you picking up on the theme here?) are festive delicacies.  Potato latkes are found on most family tables - crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside.  What everyone looks forward to, are the sweet jellied donuts!  Delicious enough to have converted Zeus!

Happy Hanukkah!  

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

(That's my handpainted living room floor!)

Monarchs and Painted Ladies

Monarchs and Painted Lady butterflies have waltzed through September, and much of October together, without a thought for the Winter social season down South.  They've been feasting on the nectar of flowers, and basking in the sunshine here in the North.  The unusually wet Eastern Canadian Summer, and hot, sunny weeks in September, have produced a lot of nectar, and kept butterflies in the Northern Hemisphere.

They're having a nectar banquet, storing energy for the long voyage to Mexico.  The four thousand kilometre (about 2,500 mile) journey will take about six to eight weeks.  They're in no hurry to pack their bags. 

Even for a daytime luncheon, the butterflies really dress up!  Monarchs are larger than the Painted Lady butterflies.  Their deep orange coloured wings are rimmed in black, with white polka dots.  Monarch wings are veined, and look much like stained glass windows.

Painted Lady butterflies are smaller, and move more quickly.  Their wings too, are orange and black, however they're dappled with colour.  The black and white pattern is found only in the top corner of the front wings.  Their upper bodies are a blue green colour, and they look like they're wearing a silk bodice or vest.

The Viceroy butterfly is a no show at this gathering.  It is often mistaken for a Monarch.  The Viceroy has a distinctive black line, running in a semi-circle across the hind wings.  Only true Monarchs at this garden party!

The male Monarch (above) is taking a rest from fluttering.  How can you tell if it's male or female?  Do you see the small, black oval shaped dot on one of the thin veins near the tail of the butterfly?  That is one of the butterfly's scent glands - and only the males have them.  The female butterflies do not have these oval dots, and their veins are thicker.

Here's a female Monarch (above and below).  You can see the veins are wider, and she has no black oval dot alongside the vein near her tail.  Not only that, she has a Ladybug-in-waiting with her!  An Asian Ladybug, wearing a bright yellow and black polka-dotted suit is in attendance.

More and more guests arrive at the party, savouring the buffet lunch.  

A Painted Lady glances over at the bee, and realizing that she is not the Queen bee, relaxes her wings just a little.   A butterfly can't truly relax...after all, the butterfly paparazzi (that would be me) are here!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams,  Widow's Endorphines Photographic Images Incorporated.

Gratitude

My husband died nearly three years ago.  It was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.  In the midst of my profound grief, I was aware of an overwelming sense of gratitude.  Thankfulness.  Thankful for having shared our lives together.  Thankful for the more than twenty-six years we had.  That sense of gratitude was so strong, that it lifted me through some of the darkest days of grief.

One of the women in an on-line group of widows, I am forever grateful for having joined, is Kristin Meekhof, Co-author of A Widow's Guide to Healing: Gentle Support and Advice for the First Five Years.  She knows a thing or two about gratitude.  It was during the months that she and her best friend emailed gratitude lists back and forth to one another, that love blossomed, and they married within a year.

Sadly, four years later, Kristin's husband Roy, had Stage IV Adrenal Cancer.  Even as he was dying, her husband continued creating lists of all that he was grateful for in his life. Kristin was only 33 years old, and as she says, "despite having a degree in Social Work, nothing prepared me for this event."  The daily lists brought some light into their lives.  Roy's lists expressed his gratitude for family and friends, who in only eight short weeks would lose him to the disease.  

Gratitude is a feeling or expression of thankfulness.  It begins with an awareness of something or someone you are thankful for.  This is followed by acknowledging to yourself that you are grateful. Many people have gratitude journals, and each night before bed, write down three or five things for which they are grateful.

Gratitude blossoms when you express it.  Kristin says that since her late husband's death, "I make it a point to give handwritten thankyou cards to my dear friends because their kindness matters to me.  It is important to put these things in writing and thankyou cards are a beautiful gesture of kindness."

It's an exciting day for Kristin, as she launches a new project with Deepak Chopra.  They are collaborating with JIYO Internet of Wellbeing, to create the world's biggest on-line gratitude journal! Today they're launching 31 Days of Gratitude. Here is the link:  https://jiyo.com/#campaign/31_day_gratitude/

I am grateful to be alive!  My husband did everything he could to survive, and when he was told there was nothing more that could be done, he willed himself to live longer.  Survivors of wars, terror attacks, and disasters, often say they owe it to those who've died, to live life to the fullest.  The logo for the Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry, for physically and mentally wounded warriors and vetrans, is I AM.

I am grateful for my existence.  I am grateful that I was born to nurturing parents who gave me a strong foundation, and unconditional love.  I am grateful for the love of family, and the deep bonds and memories we share.

I am grateful for friends, both those I see each day, and those who exist in a virtual reality known as Facebook.  I have deep and meaningful relationships with people I have never met.  I look forward to the daily posts of family and old friends that I haven't seen in years, yet through social media, I have been able to watch them grow older along with me.  Friends keep me laughing, at myself and the world.  Friends keep me interested in the world around me, and I learn so many new things.

I am grateful to be living in this day and age.  Our ancestors, and all the kings of old, would never have imagined that a commoner would live such an amazing life!  Think about it:  I'm living in an air conditioned home, sipping a cup of imported coffee, while typing this photo-blog on my computer, which will be instantly read by people with iphones, on other continents.  My microwave would blow our ancestors minds!  Last week, I met up with a friend who flew in from Scotland for a week.  No perilous sea voyage.  Our world is far from perfect, however, it is so much better than it was for millions living in the Dark Ages.   

I am grateful for a healthy body and brain.  I am independent, and make my own decisions.  I am grateful for my wit, strong will, and gentle spirit. I am grateful to be living in a country with free medical care.  I am grateful to be living in a city with a reputation for advancements in medical research, and hosptials with renowned doctors.  I am grateful that we are nearing breakthroughs on many medical fronts.

I am grateful for my eyesight.  When we first moved to Toronto, I was unhappy.  My husband suggested that I take my camera with me, while walking the dog.  When you look for beauty, you are sure to find it.  It is a pleasure and honour to share the beauty of my part of the world with each of you, through the miracle of digital photography.   

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

International Day of Peace 2017

A Peace Rose for the United Nations' International Day of Peace.  Every September 21st, since 1981, the UN has observed and celebrated peace day.  This year's theme, Together for Peace:  Respect, Safety and Dignity for All, is "about bringing people together and reminding them of their common humanity".  

These two very different blossoms growing from a Chicago Peace rose on my balcony, illustrate the beauty of diversity, and oneness. As it unfurls, the bud of the Chicago Peace rose is a vibrant coral pink.  As it fully opens, the colours soften from peach to apricot, and then the palest of pink and champagne.  One plant, many faces. 

At noon today, wherever you are in the world, people will observe a minute of silence.  The ripple effect of a minute of silence being observed around the globe, in each time zone, is called the Peace Wave - a quiet sound wave enveloping the earth.

As for the other 1,439 minutes in a day, you can bet they'll be filled with voices shouting and singing. There'll be soccer games and concerts all over the world. 

Today is also a day of prayer and meditation.  In the midst of what may be a stressful day, find a moment to gaze into these roses, and breathe deeply, and slowly.  You may find the great calm, known as peace.

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Victoria Day In and Out of the Garden

My Victoria Day long weekend plans have had cold water poured on them!  Victoria Day is the unofficial start of Summer in Canada, and it is a Canadian rite of Summer, to work in the garden at least one day of the long weekend.  It's been pouring rain, and bitterly cold in Toronto.  So, I've turned to my blog, to share my virtual garden with you.

The Victoria Day weekend began on a high note.  Saturday morning was brilliantly sunny.  Cold, but sunny.  My Brazilian friend and I headed to a busy garden centre, looking for plants for my balcony garden.  After a long Winter of white and grey, and bare branches, the vibrant, intense colours of this year's annuals were hypnotic.

The first flowers to catch my eye were sunset coloured Passion Fruit Dahlias.   I love the blend of coral pink, and apricot colours!  Dahlias are sun worshippers, so these are going in South facing windowboxes, where they'll get at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. 

I have often planted fuchsia beneath taller dahlias or geraniums, giving the sun-sensitive fuchsias partial shade.  Look at these cascading fuchsia blossoms! 

The coral pink of the fuchsia petals are a close match for the coral pink dahlias...

We were strolling through the flower-filled parking lot, when a rack of vibrant and bright, Dark Get Mee Campanula caught my eye.  It is a wonderful compliment to the coral pink of the other flowers. Campanulas enjoy 3 to 6 hours of morning or late afternoon sun, in other words, they need to be tucked under other plants for shade.

And then it happened...my friend saw this gorgeous beauty hidden in a far bottom corner of a rack of fuchsia plants.  It took my breath away!
    

Fuchsias bloom from Summer, through Fall.  Over and over again.  While fuchsia blossoms are exquisite cascading from a hanging basket, Toronto's infamous windstorms have been known to toss hanging baskets off balconies, endangering anyone below.  In a high wind, these little ballerinas, look like Can-Can dancers at Cirque du Soleil.  They'll be potted in a sturdy, heavy container.

I also brought home this lovely, although nameless, dahlia.  In Saturday's sunshine, it looked more blue, than it did in Sunday's rain.  This one too, will be placed in full sun, where it will bloom perhaps as late as November.

For the first time, since moving to Toronto, one of my roses survived the Winter.  It doesn't have a tag, so I have no idea what it is.  I'll know for sure in about two or three weeks.  I think it was this one...

I am really curious about one of the roses which I brought home on Saturday.  It won't bloom for about two weeks.  The tag shows a dusky, almost purple floribunda rose.  Dramatically named Ebb Tide, it was another of my friend's great finds.  It has a spicy, clove fragrance similar to carnations.

A rose that I have photographed many times over the years, is the Chicago Peace Rose, and I brought another one home for this year's balcony.  As the blossoms age, the colours of the rose petals evolve from deep pink, to apricot, to the palest yellow, making it an ever-changing, always fascinating rose to photograph.

There are still more plants to add to the garden.  In addition to the geraniums or petunias, there are smaller flowers to fill in the window boxes and planters.  Mint, rosemary, and lavender also grow wonderfully on the balcony, and they combine beautifully with other container flowers.

Saturday and Sunday were too cold to get any planting done.  This morning, I woke up to sunshine! It's going to be a perfect day for planting!  The long range forecast:  the balcony will be ready within a week!

Happy Victoria Day!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.