Meanderings of a Mermaid

I gaze longingly at photos of my garden. Last summer I had a garden for the first time in eons. The arctic is not conducive to gardening. So I've moved to a place that came with a mature perennial garden. The garden is a few weeks off though. It's still the north after all. I am mesmerized. The garden is a place so full of insects, birds and other life. A daily joy is to make the rounds through the beds and see what new bud has opened. Some plants I can't identify until this happens. Marvellous flowers keep me enthralled all summer. The busy activity of bees and butterflies is fun to watch. This summer I will live outside again. The satellite radio moves out, the dogs stay out all the time and the roof on the gazebo has to go up. Meals are taken outside and friends sit on the gliding chair. Pass me a beer.

It would seem that all the cells in my body are regenerated on a twelve year cycle, and not the seven years I read about. I guess that's the difference in the mermaid physiology. Completing university and getting married; death of parent; end of marriage;death of second parent; death of second spouse. After each of these events came a major period of self-evaluation and the determination of a new path. Losses and additions mean a temporary imbalance wobbles us. It takes awhile to find the right footing. It takes a while to allow proper healing of self. And there's another cycle I've noticed that has to do with travel. I live under the influence of a twenty year cycle for revisiting places in Canada that I've lived in, worked in and visited. Twenty years is a long time, for sure. A lot changes happen in twenty years. Think about Yellowknife in 1981 and then picture it in 2001. Wow. It's not the same place. And I'm not the same person.