Tag: opinions

Mothers’ Day Me Too!

I’ve been lucky enough to have had many wonderful, strong mothers in my life. They took the shape of aunts and mothers of friends, my own Mum and my second mother, Evie Redman. Over time the legions of mothers morphed into my friends as my generation took the mothering helm, steering our kids, with varying degrees of success, into adulthood. Now, the baton is passing on down the line. Not all of the mothers in my life have produced kids but instead nurture fur babies, the careers of others; friends, colleagues and causes. All women play a vital role in how this world turns and should be revered and protected for just that reason. In the past couple of years many are finally finding the courage to stand up and say enough, no more; to put into words their frustrations at the lack of progress in their treatment. There is strength in this movement and, pulling together for the betterment of all women, we will effect change. It’s been over a century since the suffrage movement began. There is still so much work to be done. On this Mother’s Day, may we all stand together and determine to put an end to misogyny in all its guises. We are the mothers of all, the backbone of the world. We owe it to the future.

 

IMG_3510

#mothersday #metoo

Photo credit: Clo Carey

Welcome!

When meeting people for the first time, best known advice is to steer well clear of politics and religion. The default topic has always been the weather and here in Nova Scotia these days it is a HOT topic. We had an unusually cold and late Spring but now, alongĀ  with many other parts of the world, we have endured steamier temperatures than normal for this moderate location. Complaints are inevitable, with those who don’t have A/C making a beeline for the nearest public building that does and those of us lucky enough to work in those buildings arriving for our shifts earlier and leaving, reluctantly, later than normal.

Of course, as with every phenomenon that Mother Nature hands us enterprising entrepreneurs are doing well; food trucks are selling out of ice cream and local mom and pop hardware stores are scrambling to restock their fans. Wells are running dry, crops are wilting and roasting marshmallows are banned from campsites. The Farmers Almanac is consulted and eyebrows are cocked knowingly at the sky. It’s Nova Scotia, wait fifteen minutes and the weather will change. But this time it takes days instead of minutes and before we know it we’re knee-deep in debate about Global Warming and Climate Change; blaming politicians and invoking God. Weather is no longer a safe topic of introductory conversation; religion and politics have infiltrated, and soon enough our weather antennae will be tuned southwards as hurricane season girds its loins and zeros in on the eastern seaboard. In the coming weeks we’ll stock up on storm chips and batten down the hatches, knowing that the mother of all storms might be in the not to distant future. More than a few of us will be praying to our various Gods that politicians will finally stop kowtowing to big business and do something constructive about our poor, long-suffering planet, while quietly acknowledging that such an achievement is beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful Deity. One thing is certain, be you rich or be you poor, white, black or rainbow, the weather doesn’t descriminate. We’re all in the same leaky boat. It’s time to start bailing.