Holly Dickson-Ramos's Blog, page 11

Strong Spirit: Hope for Women Living with Illness

Even at this time of reduced social interaction I keep (virtually) bumping into women who are sick or struggling.  There was a time when I thought I was the only odd one.  As a youngish woman living with a chronic condition, it seemed to me that the frustration and pain of dealing with an uncooperative... Continue Reading →

The Journey

As we begin a new year together, I want to share the words of this poem with you. It is written by Jan Richardson. For Those Who Have Far to TravelAn Epiphany Blessing If you could seethe journey wholeyou might neverundertake it;might never darethe first stepthat propels youfrom the placeyou have knowntoward the placeyou know... Continue Reading →

When Your City Goes Red Make Ravioli

Today my city goes red. In Ontario, regions are colour-coded according to Covid cases and restrictions that are in effect. Because of my underlying condition, we’re living as though we’re in lock-down anyway, but I find it depressing to know that my community is once again moving in the wrong direction. I miss swimming at... Continue Reading →

Paintings that Speak

Growing up, everyone I knew hung prints on their walls: large landscapes, idyllic small town scenes, abstract splashes. Then, as a young adult, I met a man who filled my life with texture and pigment. He was always talking about Peru, his homeland: the food, the warmth, the history, the economic poverty, the cultural wealth.... Continue Reading →

Pandemic Panettone

Traditionally seasoned turkey with canned cranberry, stuffing and mashed potatoes rouses in me wonderful childhood memories of Christmases spent north of Toronto, with my aunt and uncle, in a snow-draped landscape – towering pines everywhere, a real fire burning day and night, chocolate initials in our stockings. Magic. But my husband grew up elsewhere and... Continue Reading →

An Unexpected Kindness

As a child I found squash odious. Consequently, as an adult I never cooked it. Then, I discovered the joy of a simple, homemade butternut squash soup: fry an apple and onions in a generous amount of curry before adding broth and squash and you have the makings of a delicious meal. Last year a... Continue Reading →

When God Doesn’t Fix It

I’ve lived with chronic illness for more than ten years now, and during that time have come to realize that for many of us – not just for me – life is complicated. It seemed to me, when I first got sick, that the loss and pain caused by my condition isolated me from others... Continue Reading →

Reflections

A world in quarantine changed us all, I think, in big and small ways. We’ve heard about wild life returning, the clearing of the skies, people singing on balconies. Personally, I find it hard to articulate the subtle changes I sense in myself after months of forced seclusion. Stopping for a prolonged period was, at... Continue Reading →

Better Than Ice Cream

Subtle flavour and gentle sweetness are sensory pleasures I discovered later in life. My husband and I stumbled, together, across an obscure Japanese bakery in Markham, years ago, and the lightness of a strawberry shortcake we found there is with us still. Later, I tried, for the first time, an array of Peruvian treats: alfajores,... Continue Reading →

Attracting Bees

Four years ago I became interested in bees and pollinator plants. A number of books about Colony collapse disorder caught my eye and, the way I saw it, with more bees in my backyard I could help save a species essential to our food supply and have more tomatoes and zucchinis to harvest. I looked into keeping hives, but this seemed too involved for me; in the end I settled on creating a series of pollinator gardens that ran across most of the property behind our house.

I was dubious, though,...