Pocketful of Memory Cards

I decided to put a little twist on The Wishing Tree and created a Thanks Giving Tree for the month of October.  I instructed people to use the tags to share something they were grateful for. Autumn winds and rain have taken their toll.  This afternoon I decided it was best to remove things, as most tags were completely saturated and many were flying about the neighbourhood.  I was again, pleasantly surprised at the large number of people who participated, and the small number that chose to write inappropriate things.  Then again who am I to judge what is inappropriate?  I left all the tags up and found that the tree was self censoring.  Most of the raunchy ones disappeared by the time I collected them today. Much gratitude to all who participated and a special thanks to the person who repaired the pencil box. Here are the words of gratitute, in no particular order, with no editing to grammar and spelling. Some people wrote their name...

This morning, with Spring and the rainy season fast approaching I took the opportunity to remove the wishes from the Wishing Tree.  I have copied the wishes for you to read below, exactly as they occur on the tags, including any grammar and spelling errors. People rarely wish for "things" or money though there's nothing wrong with it if they do. Reading so many of these wish tags leaves me with a bitter sweet feeling.  It warms my heart to see that people so often wish for things for others.  And some of the things people are struggle with really break my heart. I wish the best for everyone who posted this year, and I wish the best for you too! I wish for peace determination & Love filled Xmas for those suffering with cancer I wish that everyone gets what they want and be happy I wish no one would die painfully I wish for all the people I love to lead a happy and positive life I wish my missing dog MAPLE would be ret'd to us I wish my kids wo...

'Twas less than three weeks now, until Christmas Eve And Suzan was wishing this cold snap would leave! Still she braved frigid temps, hung her sign up with care, And now tags on The Wishing Tree danced in the air. At night as she burrowed ‘neath the sheets on her bed, She pulled up the duvet, ‘til it covered her head. And if Max wanted out for a three a.m. crap, She’d pretend she was sleeping and give Mike a tap. Hibernation was something she thought she should try, But then Old Saint Nick, surely’d pass them right by. She began to act Grinchy when she had to go out, She'd gripe and complain, and sometimes she’d pout. As her mind mused on Santa and Grinches and Max, She thought a great thought that stopped her in her tracks. Though the weather was frightful beyond all good reason,  It was love that would warm her in this festive season. For when you share time, with your family and friends, The love surely grows and th...

A few weeks ago, my hubby and I picked all of the wishes off the wishing tree in our front yard.  It wasn't something I really wanted to do, but we were getting into the rainy season and many of the wishes had become illegible.  Buds were also started to form on the tree branches and some wishes were flying off and going who knows where if I didn't pick them up right away. I worried that once the tree was in full leaf, it would be difficult to remove the hanging tags and the tree would soon look shabby. Yesterday, while cleaning up my office I examined the mound of watermarked, blurred tags sitting in a pile on my filing cabinet.  I decided it might be appropriate to recycle them - a much better option than throwing them out. I did feel the need for some sort of record of them, so I've written them here, the ones I could still read anyway.  They are exactly as they appeared, with the occasional spelling or grammar error and a description in brackets of any pict...

This Monday I'm feeling very grateful for the kind, generous, thoughtful, creative, people who are a part of my life. I'm grateful for all of those who have contributed to the wishing tree.  It's really taken on a life of it's own.  Last week I put out a thank you note accompanied by a gift bag of Hersey's kisses, with an encouragement to "share these small tokens of thanks with your neighbours."  When I pulled into the driveway on the weekend I thought someone had taken the bag.  On closer inspection the gift bag had been placed inside a clear plastic bag so you could still see the note. Inside the bag I found a collection of polished rocks, smooth and round on one side, and on the other, flat with the engraving you see in the photo.  I have no idea who put them there. I'm very thankful for my friend Donna who happened to overhear someone in her snowshoeing group talking about their renovations.  She passed on the phone number of a tile s...

I've been writing, writing, writing this week.  Mostly transcribing the conversations that Reg and I had this past September.  I can't wait to get these stories into the memoir.  Anyone who blogs knows how time consuming it is so I'm going to cheat a little today.  We're still early enough in the year to do a  top ten list aren't we?  I thought ten might be a bit much so I took some inspiration from Lilly's blog   Feel LOVD Everyday and listed five of my favourite posts from January to November 2012.  I left out December since you probably looked at them recently.  The wishing tree is probably the true Number 1 in terms of the number of visitors. Number 5: I love this shot of the band at the Chris Botti concert we went to in June.  Have a look at Oh What a Night .  Do follow the link to my post on From the Valley and Beyond to see some more great shots  (how often do I brag about my photos?) and read the concert ...

Early in December I followed the instructions on Day 8 of the Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar and made a Wishing Tree in a corner of my front yard.  It might surprise you, but I gave it some serious thought before I did it.  In the past, doing things that are outside the mainstream have brought me mocking comments or eye rolling from some of the people I know.  Then there was the fact that in the past our car had been vandalized with an obscenity, requiring  a new paint job.  Some of the moonlights in the front yard had been stolen or broken, and there are a few fences and stop signs in the neighbourhood with graffiti on them.  I was concerned that I'd be constantly replacing stolen pens and markers and that some people would write rude comments on the wish tags, or use the markers for more graffiti.  I decided to ignore the imagined mockers, and since I had committed to the Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar, I was committed to following throug...

I've spent the last hour looking over my gratitude posts for the past year and it's no surprise to discover I have a lot to be thankful for.  I thought about doing a 2012 top ten gratitude list, but instead I think I'll just continue on as I have and tell you what I'm grateful for this past week. I'm grateful for the attention The Wishing Tree received from the local media.  The reporter wrote "It's likely to become a yearly tradition," and I'm hoping that others will be inspired to create trees all over the city. I'm grateful it didn't take much convincing to get my hubby to delve into the storage closet this weekend.  So far we've emptied two rubbermaid containers and three smaller boxes.  We have two packing boxes of household items and two boxes of books to give away. There may actually be visible floor space by the time we're finished! I'm grateful that Lisa and Dan invited us out last night.   Freddie...

To the person who felt their wish was selfish, I'd like to let them know that in my opinion wishing for something that will make you happy makes other people happy too ...and that's the opposite of selfish.

Last Saturday, when I read the instructions on Day 8 of the Act of Kindness Advent Calendar , I knew it was something I had to do. It put me in mind of the Faerie Tree on the Mission Greenway and as luck would have it, I live in the perfect location for a Wishing Tree . Our house sits on a corner lot and there's a bus stop practically in the front yard.  We get a lot of pedestrian traffic with young people on their way to the nearby high school, lots of dog walkers and stroller pushers, and I was quite excited to see what the wishing tree would reveal. It's been a thrill to go out each morning and see the numbers of new wishes grow exponentially each day. It's shown me that I'm surrounded by some very kind, caring people, and some of them could really use a hug.  I'd like to thank them for sharing their thoughts with me and the rest of their neighbours.  I'd also like to encourage you, dear reader,  to do this yourself.  As yo...